Measles in Maine Takes Crowd Out of Basketball Game in Boston

BOSTON — There’s nothing like a measles outbreak to take away the home-court advantage.

Only 42 spectators were on hand Wednesday as Maine defeated Boston University, 73-70, in overtime at the Terriers’ gym.

Spectators born after 1956 were prohibited from attending the men’s basketball game by the Massachusetts Board of Health because of 45 cases of measles reported the Maine’s Orono campus.

A women’s basketball game Saturday against Maine in Boston will also be played in front of limited spectators because of the outbreak, said Dick Kelley, assistant sports information director at Boston University.

Kelley said the Maine Board of Health has not yet decided if fans would be able to attend a rematch of the schools’ men’s basketball teams Sunday or a men’s hockey game Saturday.

Kelley said it was his understanding that the board of health imposed the post-1956 restriction because the vaccine used since that time has not been as effective as the earlier variety.