The Nevada men's basketball team's season opener featured a few court invaders. But they weren't people.
Swarming bats caused a brief delay in Tuesday night's Sacramento State-Nevada college basketball game.
With under six minutes remaining in regulation, several bats came flying into the playing court area at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.
Where's Manu Ginobili when you need him?
Believe it or not, this wasn't the first time bats have invaded the Lawlor Events Center. In 2017, for instance, there was a colony of bats temporarily living inside the arena as they were migrating south for the winter.
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Steve Alford, who's in his fifth season as Nevada's head coach, called the arena's bat issue "pretty embarrassing."
"The bat thing is getting pretty embarrassing, and it needs to be fixed. It's uncalled for," Alford told reporters after Tuesday's game. "We are a big-time basketball program and we shouldn't be dealing with bats. We shouldn't have a stoppage of play because we're dealing with diving bats.
"[Assistant coach Kory Barnett's son] loved it. He thinks Spiderman is coming to the next game."
Guard Hunter McIntosh, on the other hand, embraces the unique feature of Nevada's home arena.
"It's home-court advantage. It's a little bit of our identity, this early in the season. We embrace it. We like it. It's cool," McIntosh said, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. "It's unique."
The bats may have helped propel the Wolf Pack to victory on Tuesday. Following the bat delay, Nevada ended the game on a 14-7 run to secure a 77-63 win.
The Wolf Pack are coming off a 22-11 season that ended with a loss in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament.
