Pitt cheerleaders and dance team rock the Fitzerald Fieldhouse

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Students participated in different activities near the cafeterias

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IMPRESSIONS

Editorial: SGB's board appointment raises questions

Letters to the Editor:

The sinfulness of homosexuality is up for debate!

Principles of oppression hurt society

Israel: Whose land is it anyway?

"Mi casa es su casa": My home is your home

One man's sorrow should not be another's joy.

Bensylvania by Ben Goldblatt

Play the NCAA Tournament contest to win money

ENTERTAINMENT

Review of Tortured for Christ by Richard Wurmbrand

Hip-hopper KRS-One once again comes to Pitt

SPORTS

Pitt finishes at the Fieldhouse with firepower

Knight and Howland receive Big East honors

EXPRESSIONS

Jubilee Afrikana rocks the Hilton Hotel in Downtown

Only the right antidote can protect your life

There is evidence to support Christ's resurrection

Mannafest conference helps rock the Holiday Inn in Ohio

Some of God's Children choir rocks the William Pitt Union

SPECIAL FEATURE

Gospel revealed through semantics and word play

In remembrance of 'Good Friday', the top 25 student responses to 'Loving the world God...'

God's love is alphabetically revealed in random languages

Students reflect on the cross through poetry

Pitt finishes at the Fieldhouse with firepower

Jon Sobolewski

Sports Editor

 Possibly the best Pitt team to ever play at the Fitzgerald Field House closed the old gym out with a 92-65 thrashing of their rival West Virginia (8-20, 1-15). The game nearly became secondary to the festivities that went on before, during, and after it.

With the win Pitt (25-4) tied their all-time record for wins and tied Connecticut for the Big East overall regular season title to go along with the West Division title they clinched with a win at Seton Hall four days earlier. Pitt also finished a school-best 15-1 at the Field House.

“Not many people thought we could have the season we’ve had, so I think it was special,” said junior Brandin Knight.

A sold-out Field House was treated with great performances by the Pitt backcourt, a dunk contest within the game, a chance to see over 130 former Pitt players, and the presentation of the regular season championship trophy by Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese.

Knight continued his terrific All-Big East season scoring 15 points, dishing out a season-high 14 assists, and grabbing 6 rebounds. Knight made a final statement with his play in hopes of winning the Big East Player of the Year  Award which he won 3 days later along with Connecticut’s Caron Butler.

Along with Knight’s excellent performance, sophomore Julius Page scored a career-high 23 points, including five 3-pointers.

“We were fired up with all of the old players there,” Page said. “I had to calm down, because I was getting too fired up.”

The game also marked the final home game for Pitt senior forward Chad Johnson. Johnson was honored before the game with a brain-numbing applause and also with his first start of the season. Johnson, a Tallahassee native, was by far the most active player on the floor in his 23 minutes. Johnson had a number of dunks and continuously got his hands on basketballs that he had no business being near.

While Johnson garnered the love of his teammates, West Virginia players had no love to share with each other in their final game of the season. With veteran coach Gale Catlett’s resignation six games ago, the Mountaineers have become a team in disarray.

Gale’s nephew Drew Catlett took over the team and failed to appropriately control it.

Super-talented freshman Jonathan Hargett became disinterested with the game after he failed to receive a foul call when driving to the basket. Hargett decided to stay seated on the court while Pitt scored a basket and would not get up until referees stopped the game believing he was hurt. Hargett refused a helping hand from Pitt’s Julius Page earning him boos from the raucous crowd every time he touched the basketball for the rest of the evening.

Hargett also decided to put in as little effort as possible for the final 12 minutes of the game.

The lone bright spot for West Virginia was the play of Penn Hills native Drew Schifino. In his homecoming, the freshman Schifino scored a team-high 20 points and displayed the scoring skills he used to finish second in scoring in Western Pennsylvania as a senior before low-test scores delayed his entrance into West Virginia for  a year.  The player who did lead Western Pennsylvania in scoring that year was Pitt freshman Yuri Demetris who scored the final basket ever in the Field House.

In attendance for the Final game were Pitt greats such as Don Hennon, Billy Knight, and Charles Smith, the only three players with their numbers retired for the University of Pittsburgh.

Pitt began play in the Fitzgerald Field House in 1951-1952 and recorded a 414-176 record there in its 50 seasons. Next season the Panthers will move into the on-campus Peterson Events Center. The $68 million, 12,500-seat arena will be opened next fall when Pitt plays cross-town rival Duquesne.

“It was a great ending for a storied building”, said Pitt coach Ben Howland.

Photo by Ramesh C. Reddy

Former Panther player from the 1920's poses with Pitt cheerleader Aimee Kotsagrelos as spectators get a picture

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