The Chick Evans Field House has been the site of many exciting basketball games this season, and fan support by the NIU student body has been a major contributing factor to this.

Due to the tremendous rise in attendance this season, NIU students will now need tickets to get into any men’s or women’s basketball games for the rest of the season.

The tickets will be free and can be obtained by students in the fieldhouse ticket office by presenting their current student ID on the day of the game. The ticket office opens at 8 a.m.

Only one ticket will be issued per student identification card, but a maximum of five IDs may be presented by one NIU student at one time. No duplicate tickets or trouble passes will be issued for lost tickets.

With each student ticket distributed, a pink roll ticket for the WDKB-FM “B-95” drawing will be provided.

NIU Associate Athletic Director Keith Hackett said convenience for the students is another reason that the new policy is being instated.

“We love to have the crowds and we encourage everyone to come, but we want avoid having to turn students away,” Hackett said. “There are 3,000 student tickets that are available for every game and students can get tickets at the ticket office from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“At 4:30 p.m. the ticket office will temporarily close and move to the ticket window where students can pick up the tickets until they are all out.”

This means that if tickets are still available by game time, students will still be able to get into the game.

“The policy will go into effect Thursday and will remain in effect until the end of the year,” said Athletic Ticket Manager Tom Freidel. “At the end of the year, we will review the policy to see if we’ll need it again next year.”

NIU Athletic Director Gerald O’Dell also wants to avoid turning students away and feels that this policy will create less confusion.

“We are trying to give people the opportunity to get the tickets in advance,” O’Dell said. “In this way, we can accommodate the students, and they can make their plans according to the availability of the tickets.”