Muskie Madness

On Saturday, the tip-off for the 2011-12 Xavier basketball season began, turning Cintas Center into a madhouse packed with over 5,000 Xavier students, parents and alumni.

The event kicked off at 4 p.m. with activities for all ages, including a moon bounce for younger children. The Blue Blob and D'Artagnan mascots made their appearances walking around the very busy Cintas Center, getting fans excited about the scrimmages later that night.

There also was a fair share of free giveaways such as free samples of ice cream and Honest Tea.

The event that grabbed most people's attention was the autograph session which happened approximately an hour before the student shootout contest. The autograph table was outside the main entrance to Cintas Center and the line for autographs extended from the table all the way to the parking lot on the east side of Cintas. Autographs were given by Isaiah Philmore, Jeff Robinson, Andre Walker, Griffin McKenzie and Lynette Holmes.

As the crowd entered into the main gym in Cintas, the students who had tickets for floor seating received a free white Nike T-shirt that says "Muskie Madness" on the front. The student shootout contest consisted of students paired with a member from the men's or women's basketball team shooting a layup, free throw and half court shot.

The teams were introduced alternating with one member from the men's team and one from the women's team. The players were brought on stage to the background music of their choice as their names and positions were introduced.

The highlight of the night was the return of the ever-popular slam-dunk contest. Dezmine Wells won the dunk contest championship with a little help from Mark Lyons.

Jeff Robinson and Travis Taylor also entertained the fans, and Lyons made a cameo dunk over Isaiah Philmore.

The evening concluded with traditional scrimmages, two ten-minute sessions for the men's team and one eight-minute session for the women's team.