1/8/19
DAHLONEGA – The national spotlight will shine at the University of North Georgia’s Convocation Center tomorrow (Wednesday, January 9) as ESPN3 will be on hand to broadcast the women’s and men’s basketball Peach Belt Conference home games against Columbus State.
The women’s game will tip off at 5:30 p.m., and the men’s game is set for a 7:30 p.m. start. The games are part of the NCAA Division II showcase.
It will also be Operation Nighthawks of Honor Night, which commemorates 12 UNG alumni killed during or associated with the Korean War. A ceremony honoring these service members will be held at halftime of the women’s game.
UNG is promoting a “Blue Out – #UNGBlueOut,” encouraging students and fans to wear blue for the doubleheader. Students, faculty and staff from all campuses will receive free admission with a UNG ID card, and 1,000 free shirts will be provided by the Dahlonega Campus Student Government Association (SGA).
The Cumming Campus SGA will provide a van to transport students to the games. It will leave at 4:30 p.m. and return after the games. Students who ride the van will receive free dinner.
Dinner will be served beginning at 4:30 p.m. in the Convocation Center (with the Dining Hall closed at that time) as part of students’ meal plans or for $8 per person. The menu will include hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers (on request), fresh fruit salad, potato salad, coleslaw, assorted chips and cookies, sweet tea, lemonade and water.
Games, contests and prizes including a pair of 40″ smart TV’s will also be part of the festivities.
“There is no better platform to showcase our award-winning Operation Nighthawks of Honor initiative than in front of a national audience as part of the NCAA Division II Showcase,” UNG Director of Athletics Lindsay Reeves said. “Honoring fallen soldiers who have a connection to UNG is one of our department’s most noble endeavors, and we look forward to doing it at such a prominent event. The collaboration between our department, Student Affairs, the Corps of Cadets and the Student Government Association has generated a great deal of excitement for the night.”
ESPN3 is ESPN’s live multiscreen sports network, a destination that delivers thousands of exclusive sports events annually. It is accessible on computers via ESPN.com and on smartphones, tablets and streaming devices through the ESPN app. The network currently is available nationwide at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. It also is available at no cost to U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and wi-fi networks.
The ceremony will feature UNG’s 12 NCAA head coaches displaying commemorative memorabilia that honor the fallen soldiers. The memorabilia will be auctioned off at the end of the 2018-19 season, with proceeds supporting UNG’s Hoss Matthews Friends are Forever Memorial Scholarship Fund. Nighthawks Athletics has previously donated $2,370 to the UNG Boar’s Head Brigade Corps of Cadets Endowed Scholarship Fund endowment through Operation Nighthawks of Honor, which started in 2015 on the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
#UNGBlueOut Schedule of Events
4:30 – Doors Open, dinner service begins
4:45 – Boar’s Head Brigade Corps of Cadets march and entrance
4:45 – #UNGBlueOut Plaza Celebration – cheerleaders, drum line, Nigel the Nighthawk
5:30 – Women’s game vs. Columbus State
6:15 – Operation Nighthawks of Honor ceremony (women’s halftime)
7:30 – Men’s game vs. Columbus State
