WINONA LAKE - In an effort to showcase the Orthopaedic Capital Center to the community, Grace College Athletic Director Chad Briscoe, in conjunction with the City-County Athletic Complex, brought in some American icons - the Harlem Globetrotters.
With 1,178 tickets sold, along with almost 100 passes given out, the OCC had overflow parking Wednesday to see the Globetrotters, who are in their 85th year of entertaining fans young and old."Ourselves and the CCAC pitched this location to the Globetrotters, trying to get them to come," Briscoe said. "The thing is, they're not here every year, so to have them every four to five years could be something special."
The Globetrotters are currently their "4 Times the Fun" tour, which takes them to Fort Wayne today and South Bend Friday. Before that, they stopped in Winona Lake, but the OCC wasn't actually their first choice to play.
Originally, the Globetrotters had inquired about playing at Warsaw Community High School's gymnasium, which can hold close to 5,000 people. However, after Briscoe sent them the website to check out the OCC's facilities, it didn't take long for the entertainment group to change its mind.
"Within 20 minutes, they were calling back saying they'd come," Briscoe said.
Having the high-flying team at the OCC brought a large crowd, and brought Briscoe a sense of accomplishment in the process.
"We want this facility to be for the community, so we want to have community events here," he said.
Those in attendance were witness to some of the best dunks ever seen seen in Kosciusko County, which included the OCC's first-ever 360-degree jam, accomplished just 26 seconds into the event by "Thunder" Peltway, a 2007 University of Michigan graduate.
On top of the alley-oop dunks, the tour also features the 4-point shot.
Unveiling the feature, the Globetrotters, along with their longtime rival Washington Generals, are awarded four points by scoring from one of four circles, located between the three-point line and half-court.
The feature didn't go into effect until the final three minutes of each quarter, and the Globetrotters actually struggled from the distance until "Bull" Bullard hit four-straight, helping Harlem get the 140-122 victory.
Outside of basketball action, the two-hour program also featured dance numbers and pranks pulled on audience members. Among the pranks were walking four late comers onto the court, then telling them to come back where they came from, pouring water/confetti on the crowd and even taking a lady's purse - all of which were done in fun.
At the end of the night, each Globetrotter took a place on the OCC floor signing autographs and taking photos.
While the players were signing autographs, Briscoe was able to see the event as a success. Not only from the fans' reactions, but also because the rims were still in tact.
"I made sure the bolts were really tight," he said. "I knew there'd be some hard dunks and hanging on the rims."
