The annual “Setters Madness” was held on Tues. Oct. 14 in the Goldstein Gym, signaling the official kick-off to the men’s and women’s basketball seasons.

Over one hundred students and family members gathered together for a series of events involving both teams. Fans were entertained with the introductions for both teams and coaches, followed by a friendly competition between the players as they tried to get the most shots in the allotted time while moving around the court.

The fans got a chance to get involved shortly after that. A tag-team style shooting contest was set up, with four members of the basketball teams—two from the men’s and two from the women’s—teaming up with fans they picked up from the stands.

After a dunk contest from the men’s team and a performance from the cheerleading squad, the night wrapped up with the $10,000 half-court shot. Women’s Lacrosse member Najma Jones took her shot for the ten grand only to fall short.

It was a fun night for all, including junior marketing major Kathleen Hachmeyer, who attended for the first time.

“As a basketball fan I had fun watching the teams compete in the three-point shootout, plus the giveaways were pretty cool,” Hachmeyer said.

Those giveaways included Pace shutter sunglasses; the Pace Setter Squad shirts were also sold at the game, serving as promotion for a new initiative that Athletics is starting for the upcoming basketball season.

While Madness has been going on for several years, the Athletics staff always tries to look for new and fun ways to get fans involved during the event.

“Our goal is always to create a lot of fan engagement,” Assistant Athletic Director Zach Dayton said. “We always look at trends that are going on in the business and look to see what other schools are doing and then we see if they can fit what we do here. But with the campus transforming it will provide a lot more opportunities for us to do more things.”

Madness is also a great way for the players to get introduced to the school.

Sophomore guard and native Brazilian Marcos Oliveira participated in the event for the first time, showing that he had as much fan as the fans did during the event. But Oliveira saw it as much more than just being introduced, for him it brought feelings about how good it is to be able to represent Pace.

“I think that Madness serves as great reminder that we are not only playing for ourselves, but we are also defending the university in a way,” Oliveira said.

The season kicks off in mid-November, with the first home game on Nov. 19 as both teams face-off against Saint Rose.