SPOKANE, Wash. – Grand Canyon University (GCU) flew over 200 students to Spokane to watch their NCAA Tournament game against Saint Mary’s.
Most universities choose to give tickets to alumni and donors, but Grand Canyon University President Brian Mueller said that GCU wanted to reward students.
“We can’t have the kind of season we had, get in the tournament, and then leave them behind. Obviously we can’t bring everybody, but to be able to reward the students who have been extremely supportive seems very natural to us, and we are glad to do it,” Mueller said.
The student section, the Havocs, travel to any game they can, and have made a difference, with GCU going undefeated in front of their home crowd. GCU Havoc Leader Luke Finnigan explained the impact that the fans can have on the game.
“Momentum, I believe in momentum. The players love it, and they feed off of it, so I think it creates a whole different aspect of the game,” Finnigan said.
Despite being the closest school to Spokane out of the eight teams here Saint Mary’s fans will be outnumbered in the Spokane Arena.
Many Gonzaga fans, including Jerry Mackie, had bought tickets before the teams came out, but will root against his school’s conference rival.
“I mean I think we saw it at the kennel over there, that game got pretty messy when people started throwing trash on the court, and I think we really want revenge on Saint Mary’s,” Mackie said.
Nearly every Gonzaga fan said that they would be rooting for the Antelopes of Grand Canyon, and even many Gonzaga Basketball players believed that their fans would want to see GCU win.
