Oakdale, NY-  Over 700 people "packed the gym" throughout the course of Saturday  to help raise over $1,300 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation while taking in 4 exciting basketball games.

With ticket sales and individual donations, Dowling Athletics was able to raise over $1,300  for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through the Dowling Athletics Wishmakers program.  The day started off on a high note as the Women's Basketball team defeated the Concordia Clippers for their 6th straight win and, in the process, tying a program record by scoring 97 points in the win.  Directly before the start of the game, Molly Tubridy was honored for scoring her 1,000th career point at Dowling. 

Alumni from the over 20 year history of Dowling Women's Basketball then took the court to entertain the fans as former assistant coach Scott Green handled the PA play-by-play.  Despite some not having played for many years, everyone looked in top form as the crowd enjoyed a great game. 

Next up was the Men's Basketball game that saw Dowling narrowly lose to Concordia, 52-62 with David Seagers scoring a game high 16 points.  At half-time of the game, the Dowling Men's and Women's Basketball teams presented a check to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for $5,500 dollars to grant one wish to a child with a life threatening illness.  During the ceremony, one child spoke about how the Make-A-Wish Foundation was able to grant his wish to go to Hawaii during his fight with Leukemia.

Youth basketball teams were brought in during the half to play a quick game of ball against each other while participating in free-throw contests during the time-outs.  After both games, they joined the Dowling Basketball teams in the locker rooms to get autographs and hear some playing tips.

At the end of the night, over $1,300 was raised through Wishmakers, bringing Dowling's grand total to over $14,000, just shy of the $16,500 goal for the end of the year. 

"Community service has always been important to Dowling Athletics" said Rick Cole, Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Athletics. "Our Wishmakers program has been a huge success and it's great that Dowling and the community is able to see how the program directly impacts those involved."

For more information about the Wishmakers program, please visit www.dowlingathletics.com or email dcathletics@dowling.edu. 

-Provided by Dowling Sports Information department.