San Diego State University alumni and fans can be proud of the way the men's basketball team represented the university in Houston, but they might be a little disappointed by the actions of a few fans closer to home.
A large crowd wearing red and black rushed the gates, scaled fences and sprinted by Viejas Arena security after it was announced that the venue was at full capacity for a championship game watch party Monday night.
"We are appalled by the behavior of a number of individuals who chose to access Viejas Arena gates, disregarding the direction of security officials, to access the venue after it reached capacity," a statement from the university read in part.
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Daniela Ramirez, a journalist with The Daily Aztec, shared video of the rush with NBC 7. Fans can be seen scaling the large walls, leaping down and opening the gates from the inside so more fans to file in. They ran past security guards and into the arena. Security personnel scrambled to plug the holes as fans created weak points in the perimeter.
The SDSU University Police Department (UPD) responded to the chaos with dozens of crowd control officers who were seen doing laps around the arena grounds after the crowds had dispersed.
SDSU said no damage was reported and no arrests were made. UPD said two people were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
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"The actions of a few should not and do not take away from the many who are celebrating safely," SDSU's statement went on to say.
Monday night's title game was the final stage of a historic tournament run for the Aztecs. They clawed back from a large deficit against UConn, at one point coming within five points with just minutes left, but ultimately fell 76-59.
