NCAA hoops game in Baltimore held in empty gym for COVID-19

BALTIMORE (AP) — In what was believed to be the first U.S. sports event held without fans because of the new coronavirus, a Division III men's basketball NCAA Tournament game was played Friday at an empty gym at Johns Hopkins University.

Yeshiva University tipped off against Worcester Polytechnic Institute just after 2 p.m. in an arena occupied only by players, referees, employees and media members. The national anthem and starting lineups went on as normal with players giving each other fist pounds instead of handshakes.

When the first-round game got underway, players on each team chanted “De-fense!” and cheered to make up for the lack of fans in the 1,100-seat Goldfarb Gymnasium. Yeshiva coach Elliot Steinmetz, who shook WPI coach Chris Bartley's hand, expected it to be awkward.

“This is definitely the first time we've had that situation where there's no fans in the gym," Steinmetz said.

As students walked by the athletics facility, there were police officers outside and signs on doors reading, “No spectators.” Music blared over the speakers inside and some pre-planned fan announcements, including one promoting social media sharing — “Tell the world you’re here” — went on with no fans to hear them.

An NCAA COVID-19 advisory panel said Friday, it is “not recommending cancellation or public spacing of athletic and related events scheduled to occur in public spaces across the United States.” Johns Hopkins senior scholar Amesh Adalja is on the panel.

Johns Hopkins University said it was “prudent to hold this tournament without spectators” after Maryland's recently confirmed COVID-19 cases and CDC guidelines for large gatherings. Maryland announced there were three cases of the virus.

A student at Yeshiva, an Orthodox Jewish university in...

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