LANSING, October 14, 1999 — The five members of a Farmington Hills lottery club are still in shock after winning a top Michigan Lottery prize!

The "Boji Lottery Club" matched the first five numbers drawn in the October 8 Big Game drawing, collecting the game’s $150,000 prize. That day’s winning numbers were: 15, 17, 36, 37, 45 and the Big Money Ball number was 15.

The club includes Basil Boji, the club’s representative, and his four children — Angelo, Fabian, Intisar and Lydia. All of the club members reside in Farmington Hills and range from 23 to 54 years of age.

"I took some of our Big Game tickets to the store and had them scanned by a clerk," Basil Boji said. "That is when I found out the club had a winner. I was completely shocked that we had won! I still can’t believe it."

The winning Big Game ticket was purchased at Orchard Market Place, 31511 W. 13 Mile Road, in Farmington. Prior to turning the winning ticket in at Lottery headquarters in Lansing, Basil Boji kept it in his pocket at all times to ensure its safety.

The club members plan to use part of their winnings to pay bills and use the rest to "splurge a little bit!" The group also offered the following words of wisdom to other Lottery hopefuls: "If you don’t play, you don’t win!"

The Big Game is a multistate lottery game in Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia. Wagers cost $1 each and tickets may be purchased at more than 6,400 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide.

Big Game drawings are conducted every Tuesday and Friday at 11 p.m. The next Big Game drawing is tomorrow (Friday), October 15 with an expected jackpot of $20 million.

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