Sacramento State’s men’s and women’s basketball players and coaches came out dressed in their 1980s best for Hornet Hoopfest on Thursday night.

During player introductions players from both teams came out as such 80s icons as the Super Mario Brothers (Stephanie Cherry as Mario and Ali Mollet as Luigi), Kid ‘N Play (Donald Thomas and Curtis Harrison), LL Cool J (Rod Adams) Beetlejuice (women’s head coach Dan Muscatell) and Flava Flav, complete with Viking hat, (Jason Davis).

“My costume is always selected for me by people much higher up,” Muscatell joked, adorned in stripes and full facial makeup. As for that makeup he said “Some strange woman tackled me to put it on. She and four friends wouldn’t let me go.”

Muscatell also talked about what he enjoys most about the event. “It gives everybody a chance to get out on the court and lets the fans see the players in a different way.”

After player introductions there was a layup line featuring many crowd-pleasing dunks by the men’s team. A men vs. women three-point contest followed with the men’s team of Alex Bausley and Loren Leath edging out the women’s team of Kim Sheehy and Stephanie Cherry for the win.

The last event of the evening was a men’s team scrimmage with two 12-minute running-clock halves.

The Gold team comprised of Davis, Bausley, Harrison, Haron Hargrave, Leath, Randy Adams and Kris Groce won the scrimmage by a score of 43-37. The losing Green squad was made up of Davon Roberts, Angel Alamo, Rod Adams, Justin Williams, Alonzo Young and Donald Thomas.

The player of the game was junior Riverside Community College transfer Alamo, who led the scrimmage with 21 points on 10-11 shooting. He also pulled down a game-high five rebounds. He scored more than half of his team’s points (21 of 37) but it was not enough.

Hoopfest also featured a performance by the Hornet Girlz, who did their rendition of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

“It’s great to see the fan support and the energy from the crowd,” Rod Adams said. “We’ve been working really hard in practice and we’re looking forward to the start of the season.”

The season kicks off for both the men’s and women’s teams as part of a doubleheader against Bethany beginning at 5:05 p.m. on Nov. 10 at the Nest.