
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, March 25, 1990                   TAG: 9003251992
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

STUDENTS LIGHT UP CAMPUS

When Christian Laettner's last second overtime shot gave Duke the NCAA East title Saturday it set off a familiar campus frenzy as fans boiled into the quad, burned benches and chanted, "Final Four, Final Four."

The solemn campus echoed with referee whistles from hundreds of television sets during Duke's tight game against Connecticut. A five-point deficit drew groans and profanity. Alaa Abdelnaby's miss to win in regulation had students holding their heads.

But it was all hugs and high-fives when Duke assured its fourth trip to the Final Four in five years with its 79-78 victory over Connecticut.

"Let's burn some benches," exulted David Schwab of Reno, Nev., as hundreds of students began converging on a common area enclosed by Duke's Gothic architecture on three sides.

"It's amazing," he said. "I'm shocked. All the games have been that way."

Shortly after the game ended, more than 20 fans were doing running dives into mud on the quad.

Soon, fans started one fire with old Duke schedules and, when public safety officers put that one out, they swarmed to another area and torched a bench with burning newspapers and lumber. Toilet paper draped in tree branches briefly caught fire, but students were oblivious to falling cinders and ashes.

Soon the fans were ringed by Duke security guards and extra officers from the Durham Police Department. When officers approached with fire extinguishers, hundreds of students pressed together, chanting, "Defense, defense."

"To them it's a normal procedure," said J.B. McClure of Duke's public safety force. "To us, it isn't."

by CNB