Departments
Sports
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Week of 17 October 1997 |
Vol. I, No. 8 |
Sports
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Hoop madness to erupt at refurbished Case Gym
Game Preview
Men's Basketball
Midnight Madness
Friday, October 17
Doors open 11 p.m.
Case Gymnasium
by Brian Fitzgerald
Name that gym. The UMass Minutemen had the Cage. The Cleveland Indians played in the Mistake by the Lake. Now the basketball Terriers are looking for a nickname for their home basketball court.
Fans at this year's Midnight Madness rally, the Terriers' first official practice, will receive a form at the door. If you have a catchy nickname for the Case Gym, write it down and hand it in. The winner of the contest will receive $50 in convenience points.
The Terriers return to a refurbished gymnasium, including a new floor. Fans behind the BU bench will notice backs on their seats.
The Case Gym has been good to the America East Champion Terriers, especially after they moved upstairs from chilly Walter Brown Arena for the 1993-94 season. In the past four years BU has compiled a 35-10 record at Case. In fact, the Terriers were undefeated on Babcock Street last season. With a packed house, the fan noise can be a bit intimidating, and the close quarters can be quite claustrophobic. Just ask any player from Drexel, which lost the conference championship there in March, 68-61. Everywhere a Drexel player looked there was a face painted scarlet and white and a sign proclaiming BU's destiny to make the NCAA tournament.
Drexel was BU's 10th victim at Case last year, but the Terriers lost the following game, bowing out of the NCAA tournament to Tulsa, 81-51, in the first round. Still, Boston University's first appearance in the Big Dance in six years, along with a 25-5 record, has brought much recognition to the basketball program. And with three starters returning, the Terriers may be poised for even further greatness -- in spite of the graduation of Tunji Awojobi (CAS'97), the 1996-97 America East Player of the Year.
Attempting to fill this void will be forward Joey Beard (CAS'98), a transfer from Duke and BU's second-leading scorer last season. "Joey has made marked progress during each of his first two years, and we expect this process to continue," says Coach Dennis Wolff. "He's worked extremely hard in the weight room and on his game in the off-season, and I am confident that his last year will prove his best."
Athletes of the Week
Christen Dutchka, Chris Drury, and Tom Poti
Scoring two goals apiece in their weekend games were women's soccer midfielder Christen Dutchka (COM'99) and men's hockey Terriers Chris Drury (CAS'98) and Tom Poti (CAS'00).
Dutchka, one of the team's three captains, netted the first goal of BU's October 10 game against Northeastern -- and that was all the Terriers needed in their shutout of the Huskies. Five minutes later, the native of Marlboro, Mass., added an insurance tally, and then the rout was on. Her teammates scored four more goals.
On the same day, Drury scored BU's lone goal in the Terriers' 3-1 season-opener loss to Michigan State. But cocaptain Drury, from Trumbull, Conn., doubled his offensive production the following evening, helping BU to its first win of the season, a 5-4 victory over Clarkson.
Poti, who assisted on Drury's goal against Michigan State, scored two goals of his own against Clarkson -- including a crucial one when BU was leading 4-3 in the third period. Poti, from Worcester, Mass., scored only four goals last season.
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