Bronco victory hopes foiled
By Genna Tan
Ruff Riders President Kit Coyle was disappointed when two fans caused Santa Clara to be charged with two technical fouls in a men's basketball game against Gonzaga University.
"It's embarrassing to Ruff Riders, especially since it was on national TV," Coyle said.
The first technical foul occurred after a bottle was thrown onto the court from the Santa Clara fan section.
After this incident, head coach Kerry Keating angrily addressed the student section.
"Show some respect for both teams," he said into the microphone. "Cheer them on and don't throw anything else on the floor again."
However, shortly after Keating's warning, a ball of tin foil was thrown onto the court. The referees at the game conferred with one another and assessed a second technical foul to the home fans.
"In 18 years of coaching, I've never been in a place where anyone has ever thrown anything on the floor before," Keating said after the game. "Our guys work too hard to have stuff like that happen."
The Broncos lost the game 81-73 to the Bulldogs in the ESPN2-televised game.
"'»¿The behavior is not reflective of the majority, and it's unfortunate that a few individuals acted in a way that cast the university in a negative light," said Matthew Duncan, associate dean for student life. "But I believe that it is an isolated incident and we have fans, whether they be students, alums or people in the community that root appropriately and represent the school appropriately.'»¿"
Gonzaga made all four technical free throws, and the Broncos lost momentum after that.
"That's not fair to our guys," Keating said. "It's not fair to everyone in the gym who's there to watch a good game in a great environment."
The university will be taking disciplinary action against the responsible parties, said Dan Coonan, director of athletics in an open letter issued to the Santa Clara community.
The involved parties will be expelled from Ruff Riders if they are members and banned from all future Santa Clara sporting events, the statement said.
Duncan said the disciplinary action taken would follow the student conduct code.
"As with any of our student code violations, it can be anything from a warning to expulsion," said Duncan.
Duncan refused to comment on whether any specific parties have been identified.
"'»¿It was interesting to see that when the incident occurred, everyone around saw who threw it, but no one pointed anyone out," said Coyle.
In an e-mail sent to the campus community, President Michael Engh, S.J., mentioned two responses to the incident that included "a targeted assault on a student believed to be involved in the incident" and '»¿a Facebook group formed to further harass the students involved'»¿.
"Students cannot and should not take it upon themselves to punish the culprits," the e-mail said.
Duncan refused to comment on whether these specific incidents occurred.
Students with information about the incident should contact Jeffrey Mitchell in the Department of Athletics, or Duncan in the Office of Student Life.
Contact Genna Tan at (408) 554-4546 or gbtan@scu.edu.