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Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—March Madness may be drawing to a close, but a special basketball game between ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ State and the University of Southern ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ will take place Tuesday [April 9] at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville.

The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles will square-off at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the inaugural Magnolia Madness Unified Sports rivalry basketball game, a contest that will support Special Olympics ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ and the ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ ACCESS program. Traditional students from ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ will team up with students in the ACCESS program, while USM students will play alongside Special Olympics ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ athletes from the Hattiesburg area.

Admission to the game is free. T-shirts will be available for purchase and giveaways will take place throughout the evening. ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥â€™s spirit squads and Bully will be there to support the Bulldogs.

This spring, ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ University Recreation facilitated a six-week Unified Sports basketball league for the second year in a row. Unified Sports is a Special Olympics program dedicated to promoting social inclusion by joining people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team for shared sports training and competition experiences.

ACCESS is ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥â€™s only post-secondary program for students with intellectual disabilities and provides a complete college experience at ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥, along with a curriculum that encompasses independent living skills and internship opportunities. For more, visit .

Special Olympics ÌÒ»¨Ö±²¥ provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for all children and adults with intellectual disabilities. For more information, visit .