"This is exactly the kind of event we wanted to have," said Hilltopper head coach Darrin Horn. "We had a great turnout. A big thanks goes out to our fans and especially the students that came out tonight. We need to take this enthusiasm from tonight and build on it throughout the seasons."
The Toppers took the court at 12:01 for a 15-minute scrimmage, with the White Team prevailing 26-24. Senior Todor Pandov led the victorious White team with 12 points. Sophomore transfer Elgrace Wilborn added six, while sophomore point guard Danny Rumph chipped in four points and a pair of assists.
Senior Mike Wells paced the Red squad with eight point. Junior guard Antonio Haynes tossed in six point and handed out three assists. Sophomore Jamaal Brown and senior Nigel Dixon added four points each for the white team.
Ashley Britt, a sophomore from Louisville, Ky., and Earl Reynolds, a junior from Mt. Washington, Ky., were selected as honorary captains from the scrimmage.
The evening began with "Hilltopper Idol", won by Allison Moore, a Junior from Louisville, Ky., with her rendition of Etta Jones' "At Last." In the "3-on-3 Coaches' Challenge", the team of Teco Dickerson (Jr., Russellville, Ky.), A.J. Miles (Sr., Indianapolis, Ind.), DeJuan Johnson-Nowlin (Jr., Hopkinsville, Ky.), Daniel Ligon (So., Madison, Tenn.) and Emmanual Clack (So., Louisville, Ky.) squeaked by the team of Horn, assistant coach Archie Miller and graduate assistant David Boyden. Haynes and Owensboro, Ky. junior student Nick Jones won the Three-Point Contest with eight points, and Wilborn was the winner of the Slam Dunk Contest.
Western will hold its first practice session tomorrow afternoon as they prepare for the 2003-04 season. After a pair of exhibitions on Nov. 6 and Nov. 15, the Hilltoppers open the regular season at Auburn on Nov. 21.
