Marquette vs. Providence Video: Players Narrowly Avoid Swooping Bat

The BMO Harris Bradley Center is haunted, ladies and gentleman.

We've seen some strange things occur in the sports world, but this may just take the cake.

A bat made an appearance in the Marquette vs. Providence basketball game on Saturday afternoon, putting the game on hold during the second half of Marquette's 81-71 win.

The bat taunted 6'10" Providence forward Sidiki Johnson, who took a swipe at the creature before pulling a matrix-like move to avoid the bat.

Except then he fell to the floor.

We've seen squirrels run rampant on baseball diamonds, and ducks at Wimbledon—but this is the first time I've ever heard of a bat causing havoc at a sporting event.

It's a good thing Ozzy Osbourne wasn't around, for the bat's sake.

According to a fan in the stands, the flying creature caused a power outage as well: 

"

Lights out at the MU basketball game because there's a bat on the floor #prettyawesome!! twitter.com/emilylenz3/sta…

— Emily Lenz(@emilylenz3) January 26, 2013"

When power was restored and the area had been cleared, Marquette disposed of Providence behind 15 points from guard Junior Cadougan, and 13 points, six rebounds and four assists by guard Trent Lockett. 

The Golden Eagles improved to 14-4 on Saturday, including 5-1 in the Big East. The Friars dropped to .500 on the season (10-10), including 2-6 in Big East play.

For the sake of athletes everywhere, let's hope the flying creatures—and all creatures for that matter—keep away from the basketball arenas.

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