Each time Hillsdale Free Will Baptist College visits John Brown University for the annual TP game, the Saints have one goal in mind.
They want to delay to one of college basketball's most beloved traditions for as long as possible.
John Brown guard Abel Galliguez thwarted those efforts a mere 34 seconds into Thursday night's game when he drained a top-of-the-key 3-pointer for the first points of the game. The NAIA school's boisterous sellout crowd responded by letting the Charmin fly from all corners of the gym, blanketing the floor with toilet paper and forcing players from both teams to run for cover.
As I wrote about last November, the TP game has evolved into the most anticipated event of the year at John Brown University. Fans covered head to toe in blue and gold annually hurl several thousand rolls of toilet paper once the Golden Eagles score their first basket of their home schedule, a celebration that results in what USA Today once aptly called "the best technical foul in sports."
Giving up two early free throws is a small price for John Brown to pay to preserve such a popular event. The Golden Eagles have won 23 of 24 TP games, the last six of which have come against Hillsdale including Thursday's 65-48 victory.