2:07 p.m. In the officials' locker room, Terry Wymer, Dan Fouser and Sam Lickliter are preparing for the game.
Clad in their striped shirts, the three men move around the small stuffy room.
"As we get dressed, we talk about the situation," Lickliter says. "We try to cover the game — mentally and verbally."
2:29 p.m. The crowd that had been pouring in for the past hour begins to lull ever so slightly.
2:30 p.m. Jim Brown and Magnolia McCall are on Kent State's daytime custodial staff. Brown just got finished dry-
mopping the basketball court, and now the two take a break for a moment before they get back to work. They've got
to stay on their toes whenever the fans are sitting in their seats.
"Clean the rest rooms, mop up all the spills, try and keep it as neat as you can," says Brown, describing his duties.
"Restock the toilet paper and paper towels sometime between the start and halftime. Clean it all up again after
halftime. It's all right. It's a job."
Brown shrugs and smiles. But there's one thing that wears on him — the band and its confetti. He points at where
the pep band sits across the gymnasium.
McCall's gold front tooth shines when she smiles. She's looking at all the students who fill the bleachers in front
of her.
"Some of them are crazy!" she says. "Especially with all that — what is that on their heads?" She's spotted all the
rainbow-colored clown wigs. "I think that's team spirit, though. That's really nice. And that one kid's got his face
painted all blue and gold!"
She smiles and laughs and watches a little longer. Then Brown and McCall are heading out of the gym, back to
work. The game hasn't even started yet, and they're already bracing for halftime.
2:34 p.m. The Golden Flashes take the court to a standing ovation.
2:37 p.m. They are two of the brave ones. Among the sea of Kent State fans they proudly wear their navy shirts
with "Akron Basketball" written in white across the front. Bryan Hipsher and Keith Matthews, both students at Hoban
High School in Akron, sit a few rows behind the Zips' bench. Hipsher is the son of Akron head coach Dan Hipsher and
brother of Akron forward Andy Hipsher.
"It's a great feeling with all these people around
here," Bryan says. "It's going to hopefully feel
better when we beat Kent today."
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