FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                        January 12, 2007

ALUMNI RANGER BASKETBALL GAMES ON TAP

It may be hard to tell who’s having the best time—the participants or the audience—at the Northwestern Oklahoma State University alumni basketball event Friday, Jan. 19, in Percefull Fieldhouse.

“Last year’s event was a great success; everyone really enjoyed themselves,” said Lizabeth Richey, alumni director at Northwestern.

Things will start happening at 5 p.m. at the fieldhouse. Registration for participants will open, and the Rowdy Rangers support group will begin serving free hotdogs to the first 300 spectators.  Admission to the games is free.

The women’s game will begin at 6 p.m. and the men’s game at 7:30 p.m. Former and current Ranger cheerleaders and band members are invited to join in the fun. Rowdy, the athletics mascot, is scheduled to be on hand, as well. Each participant will receive a free 2007 alumni basketball T-shirt and a goody bag.

Richey said the teams will have time to practice and each game will have two 20-minute running halves and a halftime.

Milburn Barton, Ranger women’s coach, will introduce the alumni women, and Bob Battisti, men’s coach, will introduce the alumni men. Becky McCray will do the honors for alumni band members, and Judy Wolgamott will introduce the cheerleaders.

The alumni women’s coaches will be Joe Feely and Brandon Long, former head and assistant coaches, respectively. Bill Bixler, Henry Nicholson, Dale Ross and H.L. Brown, a member of the Sports Hall of Fame, will coach the alumni men.

Sam Long, Max McDermott and Gary Earnest will serve as referees with Terry Lohmann as the public address announcer and Bob Schmidt as timekeeper. The concession stand will be open, but will not be selling hotdogs and hamburgers. All other food and drink items will be available.

Former Ranger men players will include Bob Drake (who with Dennis Rountree and Craig Chestnut will be inducted the next day into the Northwestern Sports Hall of Fame), Bill Drake, Austin Keeney, Ramon Byndom, Tyler Walden, Mike Cook and Gary Wolgamott.

Former Ranger women expected to play include Kayla Landreth Haskins, Shannon Miller Chestnut, Cissy Allen, Karri Miller Kay, Stephanie Bontrager Yunker, Alyson McDermott, Margo Dobson Hamilton, Shawna Copenhaver and Mindi Cross.

The alumni basketball event has been planned by a committee consisting of Richey, Battisti, McCray, Bixler, Judy Wolgamott, Ryan Hintergardt, Courtney Harzman and Johnny Jones.

Former players, musicians and cheerleaders may pre-register with Richey by calling (580) 327-8594 or e-mailing her at lrrichey@nwosu.edu, or register Friday prior to the games.

The trio of Sports Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a luncheon at 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 20, and at half time of the men’s basketball game that afternoon. Tipoff for the game with Southern Nazarene University is 4 p.m. The women’s team will play SNU at 2 p.m. 

-NW-