Mason Madness ignites basketball fever

Video by Marcus Miller 

Last Friday marked the first opportunity for the public to take a look at the Mason men’s and women’s basketball teams on the court in the Green and Gold scrimmage.

The annual Mason Madness event gives students, alumni and local Mason basketball fans their first glimpse at the 2013 teams as well their first chance to get inside the Patriot Center to see performances by the Green Machine, Mason cheerleaders, Urbanknowledgy and The Masonettes.

The event kicked off with a joint performance of Macklemore’s Can’t Hold Us by the Green Machine, Mason Cheerleaders and the Masonettes in front of an excited crowd.

After the performance, the new Women’s Basketball Coach Nyla Milleson was introduced to the crowd. After she and coach Paul Hewitt jumped out of life-size fake cakes, Milleson spoke on how thrilled she was to be at Mason and how she hopes to pack the Patriot Center for women’s basketball games.

After Milleson’s address, Hewitt took the microphone and asked Doc Nix and the Patriot Center crowd to show two potential recruits how loud the Patriot Center gets. The crowd responded with a roar and Doc Nix and the Green Machine jammed to Stevie Wonder’s Superstition.

Normally, Mason Madness coincides with the NCAA mandated start of practice, but the basketball teams were already practicing for over a week when the event started this year.

The men’s scrimmage looked similar to the NBA all-star game with highlight reel plays and little-to-no defense. Both squads went up and down the court throwing alley-oops and stuffing home dunks, much to the pleasure of the Patriot Center crowd.

The women’s scrimmage started strong with each team making their opening buckets. This scrimmage featured much more defense than the men’s game as each side looked to lock down their opposing teammates. After five minutes of continuous clock the gold team defeated the green team 9-4. 

Video courtesy of Mason Cable Network 

Video courtesy of Mason Cable Network 

Video courtesy of Mason Cable Network