General | 1/7/2009 11:08:00 AM
ROCHESTER, NY – For the second straight year, RIT President
Dr. Bill Destler has issued a challenge to the student body to fill the Clark Gym for Sunday's women's and men's basketball games against Ithaca College (women – 12 p.m., men, 2 p.m.). If, and only if, the students fill the gym to full capacity, Dr. Destler will dye his hair orange.
The initiative is co-sponsored by the RIT Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and Student Government.
Students will receive free Tiger Den t-shirts, spirit towels sponsored by residence life and the first 500 students will receive free pizza during the women's game.
Last January, Dr. Destler issued the same challenge to his student body and they responded well, filling the gym to more than three-quarters capacity. At halftime of the men's game against Ithaca,
Dr. Mary Beth Cooper, Vice President of Student Affairs dyed half of Dr. Destler's hair orange.
This season, Dr. Destler wants the gym filled to full capacity and will have his hair dyed only if that happens.
Once again, Dr. Cooper will be dying Dr. Destler's hair at halftime of the men's game.
Students are asked to wear as much orange as possible, creating a sea of orange throughout the crowd.
The RIT women enter the game against Ithaca looking to get back in the win column. Freshman forward
#Sharon Dennis (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool)# (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) is fourth in all of Division III, averaging 13.6 rebounds per game. She also leads the conference in scoring (16.2 ppg.) and blocked shots (3.5 bpg.). Katherine Bixby leads the Bombers (7-5, 3-0 Empire 8) with 13.8 points and 3.5 assists per game.
On the men's side, RIT leads the Empire 8 with a 5-0 mark and is 7-3 overall. The Tigers are riding a four-game winning streak and have started 5-0 in Empire 8 play for the first time since the 2003-04 season. Ithaca is ranked 12th in the latest d3hoops.com national rankings. The Bombers are 11-0 overall, 3-0 in Empire 8 play and host Nazareth at 8 p.m. on Friday.
RIT senior center
#Mark Carson (Voorheesville, NY/Voorheesville)# (Voorheesville, NY/Voorheesville) leads all of NCAA play (Division I, II and III) with 15.4 rebounds per game. Carson also leads the conference in field goal percentage (62 percent) and is second in points per game (21.7). Ithaca senior Sean Burton leads the Empire 8 in scoring, averaging 21.9 points per game. He is also averaging 6.4 assists per game, while shooting 91.8 percent from the foul line.
The contest will also be webcast on
www.empire8.tv/
