Protest disrupts game

When the SF State men's basketball team left the locker room to play the second half of their game at Eastern Michigan University, they were ready to play. After they reached the court, they were not sure that was going to happen.

The men's team had originally set out to continue the game in which they were trailing 25-58, but the game was delayed nearly an hour due to a protest by students of Eastern Michigan.

"Our team didn't know what it was all about," said center John Price. "I thought they were maybe trying to pump the crowd up."

An estimated 60 students had converged on the court in response to an incident which occurred last month between a black student and a white university police officer. A spokesperson from the school said "the major issue of the protest was police brutality against the student."

Assistant coach George Wunder said he was taken aback when he saw the protesters out on the court, and things were looking doubtful for a while, but they really wanted to play.

"We came to play a basketball game and we wanted to try to play it," he said.

During the protest, the players went back into the locker room and talked about what was going on with hopes that they would soon resume their game.

The announcer said the game would be halted and asked the crowd to clear the arena. The lights were turned off, and the protesters and other spectators peacefully left the arena.

"We didn't think we were going to play the second half," said Price. "I didn't think they would get those people out of there."

Given the choice to play or go home, the Gators wanted to play. They received a 10 to 15 minute warm-up period and then continued the game with just a few spectators.

Although the break was long, some players didn't think the protest had any effect on the game. Guard Andrew Allen is one of them. "I don't think it affected us at all," he said. "We came out and played a little better actually."

This is the most recent instance where students across the nation have begun to disrupt basketball games, using the court to get their voices heard. Another similar protest occurred during a University of Massachusetts game last year, receiving national media attention.

Yet another protest, over affirmative action, happened at Rutgers University earlier this year.

Some athletes had seen instances like this on television, but never thought it would happen during their own games.

"We started thinking -- man, that's stuff you see on TV," said Allen.

When everything was finally over the Gators fell to the Division I Eastern Michigan team in a 111-61 loss. Leading scorers for the team were Kenny Evans, who scored 11 points, and Maceo Campbell and Ricky Croy, both with 10 points.

[ Golden Gater Online December 7, 1995 ]

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