From Staff Reports

Eleven Boilers in Albuquerque, N.M. won a basketball game last night; early this morning nearly 2,000 revelers ran through the streets to celebrate, stop traffic and start minor fires.

Celebrating Purdue fans hit the streets late Thursday night and early this morning. There were at least two fires reported, various places where traffic was stopped by crowds in the street and some who entered the football stadium and hung from the goalposts.

The cause of the spontaneous celebration was the men's basketball team's 75-66 victory over Gonzaga Thursday night to advance to the NCAA's Elite Eight. There were no reports of injuries and at least three arrests. The spontaneous celebration, which started around 11 p.m. was nearly complete by 1:15 this morning.

Beginning around 11 p.m. hundreds of people lingered and cheered near Purdue West Shopping Plaza. As the group traveled, it picked up numbers and canvassed campus. By 11:20 p.m., the group moved to Cary Quadrangle and then through campus to the fountain in the Purdue Mall. They stopped traffic on Northwestern Avenue as they headed toward the Chauncey Village area. Along the way, some removed a street sign and threw it in the intersection of Northwestern Avenue and Wiggins Street. By 11:30 p.m. a combined police force including Lafayette, West Lafayette, Purdue, Tippecanoe County and Indiana State Police started forming with riot gear.

Shortly before midnight, police received a report of the celebrators hitting vehicles parked in the Grant Street Parking Garage on their way to the Village area.

Shortly after midnight, a fire was set on Stadium Avenue between Russell and Waldron streets — close to the area where celebrating fans set a bonfire after the women won the NCAA championship in March, 1999.

Shortly after the fire was reported to the police, officers received a call that 50 to 75 people broke into Ross-Ade Stadium.

Later on Stadium Avenue, fire department officials hosed down the group as police discharged roughly a dozen canisters of teargas. The fire had been started after people began pulling down tree branches from the trees along Stadium Avenue.

That fire was put out within a half hour of it being set.

Another fire was started in the 600 block of Waldron Street. A couch, a bicycle and tree limbs were used as kindling. It was put out immediately.

According to Joe Bennett, vice president of university relations, police acted more swiftly than they did during the celebration last March after the women's national championship.

"They started a fire a lot sooner," said Bennett. "The crowd was obviously getting unruly. The police acted with restraint but went (in) at the right time.

"What you are looking for is whether the situation is getting worse or better, and in this case, it was getting worse," he said.

Not all crowd were happy with the dispersal, though.

Melissa Hale, a freshman in the School of Liberal Arts, and Brian Norse, a sophomore in the School of Technology, said they were part of the group originally, when it was peaceful cheering.

"I just think we need to make sure we celebrate it," said Hale. "We’re not sure we'll make it to the next game."

Norse said at first the group broke up and they headed back to their residences. Later, as the crowd grew, it became more unruly.

Erik Brockman, a freshman in the School of Science, said, "This isn't about violence or vandalism, man. This is supposed to be about peace. Peace!"