On a night where cancer awareness was the issue off the court, the Spartans consistency issues continued on the court when they fell to Troy (15-8) 60-44 Friday night at Central. The Spartans record dropped to a dismal 8-13, and lost their second game in a row. After managing only 16 points the entire first half, the Spartans had to try and play catch up the rest of the night.

Senior forward Terel Tipton led the team with 14 points, followed by senior guard Ryan Howard with 11 points. Senior forward Derrick Puni scored 10 points, and junior Tre Curry scored nine points, making up all the points the Spartans garnered.

Along with the basketball game, the reason many people came out to watch the game was for “Paint it Pink” night. With Activities Director Mr. Scott Harris teaming up with the American Cancer Society, the money raised from ticket sales would go to research for cancer.

Throughout the weeks leading up to the game, t-shirts were sold during each lunch period, and the money raised also went to cancer research. Ryan Howard said the team had outstanding support from the Spartan faithful and for more than one reason.

“The turnout from the fans was unbelieveable,” Howard said. “The atmosphere was electric and the gym was packed!”

While he says the game was important to him and the team, Howard believes that “Paint it Pink” was about a much bigger cause.

“We raised a large sum of money for a fantastic cause, which to me, means more than the game itself,” Howard added.

This is the second event that raised money for cancer during the basketball season, the first being FanFest earlier in the season, and just like FanFest, “Paint it Pink” was a success, with more than $3,000 was raised for cancer research during “Paint it Pink” night, according to Mr. Harris.

While the loss is something the basketball team and fans would like to forget, raising money for a worthy cause is something worth remembering for years to come.