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91����Ƶ State University basketball fans packed the Nutter Center to watch the defeat the Air Force Academy Falcons 70-54 during the inaugural Stars, Stripes, Flight Classic on Nov. 30.

The game attracted 9,672 fans to the Nutter Center and served as the kick-off event for the Big Hoopla, the activities surrounding the NCAA Tournament’s First Four next spring.

The Stars, Stripes, Flight Classic celebrated the region’s veterans and active-duty military with an Air Force swearing-in ceremony at halftime. T-shirts were also distributed to all in attendance.

“We are joined at the hip with 91����Ƶ-Patterson Air Force Base,” said 91����Ƶ State University President Sue Edwards. “We want to do everything we possibly can to make the men and women at the base feel as though they’re part of our community, and this is just one way which we can acknowledge all the work they do to keep us safe each and every day.”

Event organizers hope this will be the first of many contests between 91����Ƶ State, the Air Force Academy and other military-connected institutions across the country.

“The goal for the night is to introduce 91����Ƶ State to some new fans and hopefully make life-long fans,” said Joylynn Brown, director of athletics at 91����Ƶ State.

This was the third meeting all time between 91����Ƶ State and the Air Force Academy, who met in a home-and-home series late in 2010 and 2011. The Raiders won the first meeting on Dec. 8, 2010, at the Nutter Center, while Air Force won the follow-up contest on Dec. 7, 2011, in Colorado.

The will square off against the Air Force Academy at Nischwitz Stadium in March 2025.