One orange balloon flew out of the student section just before Elijah Hughes’ jump shot swished through the net. A few seconds later, nearly a dozen other balloons followed. By that point — the first SU basket of the second half — some students had already filtered out with the Orange up 18 points against Seattle.

But during the opening 20 minutes of Saturday’s game, students packed the entire lower bowl and overflowed into the top tier, even though the official Otto’s Army student section asked for them not to show up. Its Twitter account tweeted at 3:34 p.m. that it was protesting a second consecutive game in response to the recent string of hate crimes or bias-related incidents at Syracuse University and the subsequent sit-in at the Barnes Center at The Arch.

Otto’s Army’s vice president said the protests are “more important than sports.” The Daily Orange interviewed more than 25 Syracuse students and fans, both inside and outside the Carrier Dome, before and during Saturday’s game.

“I felt like the protest is kind of a separate thing,” said Ryan Daly, a freshman who attended the game. “I didn’t feel like it had much to do with our basketball team.”

Other unaffiliated SU students simply took the place of Otto’s Army executive board members in the front few rows of chairs just off the court. When asked, three people in the front row said that they were supporting Syracuse men’s basketball, regardless of the protestors outside the Carrier Dome. They had already bought tickets and didn’t want to limit part of their Syracuse experience.

Otto’s Army’s quest to unpack the Dome in support of #NotAgainSU worked against Colgate last Wednesday, Otto’s Army treasurer Matt Jensen said. But it didn’t three days later against Seattle.

“It’s about what we do,” Jensen said. “We can’t control the actions of everyone.”

Otto’s Army Vice President Mike Bournival said before the game that Otto’s Army had received “mixed” reviews from the community about its decision. He said the group is unlikely to change its boycott decision as long as the protest continues.

“If that has to be a protest at more games or demonstrations elsewhere, Otto’s Army is ready to join them and support them,” president Kennedy Hagens told The Daily Orange last Wednesday. “And, like I said before: ‘Do whatever it takes to bring about the changes that this community needs.’”

As about 15 students walked toward the Carrier Dome Gate E entrance, they came within 100 feet of a shouting group of protesters. The protesters repeated chants of “Black Lives Matter, Jewish Lives Matter, Asian Lives Matter.” One student in the group stopped the rest.

He turned and said “We can’t walk this way, I don’t want to go this way,” before going toward a different Carrier Dome entrance.

John McCabe, an SU junior, was a part of an a capella group that performed at the Barnes Center sit-in on Thursday. He supports the protestors and the #NotAgainSU movement, he said, but still went to the game.

“I chose to come because there are a lot of ways to show support, and I think I should still be able to come support SU Athletics,” McCabe said. “Everyone is entitled to expressing themselves.”

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Those students were joined by other groups strolling toward Gate F as opening tip neared. Against the Raiders, Otto’s Army positioned an E-board member outside Gate F and the indoor sections to discourage students from attending the game. On Saturday, though, it didn’t have a section member in the building, Bournival said.

“Why are we going?” one student rhetorically asked his friend as they turned onto Forestry Avenue outside the Barnes Center.

“Because we bought the tickets.”

With about 20 minutes until Syracuse and Seattle’s tipoff, Elijah Harris Jr., a Syracuse resident of 35 years, stood between Heroy Geology Building and Steele Hall and strummed an acoustic guitar. He hummed along to chords as fans passed by, mixing in shouts of, “You gotta believe to win” and “They looked good the other day,” — referencing the Orange’s win against Colgate. Sometimes, an occasional student walked by.

Then Harris Jr.’s tone changed. His fingers still flicked the strings, but his voice lowered and became more serious.

“These are hardcore fans,” Harris Jr. said. “I don’t care what they say in the bathrooms.”

A pack of fans walked by, including a pair of male students.

“I know,” one shouted back, and continued walking toward the Dome.

Published on November 17, 2019 at 8:47 pm

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @AnthonyDabbundo