Students, residents and faculty at the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine in Rootstown use basketballs to fight against breast cancer.

The recreation club at NEOUCOM is hosting a charity basketball tournament tomorrow and proceeds from the event go to breast care research at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown.

Shravan Agrawal, co-president of the recreation club and coordinator of the event, said 12 teams are signed up at an entry fee of $75, including a team made up mainly of faculty. Agrawal said the event generates money from the teams’ entry fees and from raffle tickets sold during the tournament.

The event also receives money from donations, said Vincent Sudimak, co-president of the recreation club. He said sometimes people are unable to participate but will donate to the event anyway.

The tournament usually generates about $1,000 for breast care research, said Pamela Frank, student affairs specialist at NEOUCOM.

Sudimak said the tournament is pretty competitive, especially when students play the faculty. He said the recreation club also hosts a softball tournament in the fall and gives the proceeds to Akron Children’s Hospital and Tod Children’s Hospital in Youngstown.

The tournament starts at 8 a.m. at the University of Akron’s Memorial Hall gym.

To donate, Frank said to make checks payable to NEOUCOM and mail to Pam Frank, Office of Professional Development, NEOUCOM, P.O. Box 95, Rootstown, Ohio, 44272.

— Kim Thompson