Big-time proposal: At Cavs game, Lima native asks girlfriend to marry him

CLEVELAND — Patrick DeHaven took a shot at the Cleveland Cavaliers game Saturday night, and it brought down the house of 25,000 who applauded his quick move at Quicken Loans Arena.

During the first timeout of the second quarter, the 31-year-old Lima native and his girlfriend, Megan Benander, were randomly selected to take the court to participate in a promotional contest — or so Megan thought. What she didn’t know was that Patrick had worked things out so he could make a wedding proposal. Thus, with family, friends and thousands of basketball fans watching on the Q’s jumbo-tron, Patrick made his pass at Megan and came up with the winning score as she accepted.

“I wanted to do something where our families could be there. That was the most important thing,” said Patrick, the son of JoAnn and Tim DeHaven.

He gives credit for the proposal being at a Cavs game to a family member of Megan’s, who is an executive in the Cavaliers’ marketing department.

“I was talking with Megan’s sister and husband about wanting to propose in a special way, and that’s how the idea about a Cavs game came up. Her family is from the Cleveland area and all of us are big Cleveland sports fans.”

The two have been dating about two years.

The Cavaliers played the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday.