Arena #116: Hagan Arena - St. Joseph's vs. Monmouth

Game 4 of our trip took us back to Pennsylvania, but this time to Philadelphia, for my first Philly Big 5 school in St. Joseph's.  On this night in Hagan Arena, the Hawks were taking on fellow Hawks from Monmouth University.  Hagan Arena is an old school venue with an old school layout that gives it some unique charm that I imagine creates a heck of an atmosphere during Atlantic 10 play when St. Joe's is good.  I can only imagine how this place rocked back in the day when Jameer Nelson and Delonte West were leading the Hawks to an undefeated regular season in 2003-04.  On this night, the student section was definitely into the game, but the rest of the crowd was a little more sparse than I expected in an arena that holds less than 5,000 folks.  Ultimately, St. Joe's ended up with a solid 15-point win over a Monmouth squad that you could tell was overmatched in this contest.

Main entrance to Hagan Arena, one of the Philly Big 5 schools

The motto of the St. Joe's Hawks..."The Hawk Will Never Die"

Inside Hagan Arena a few minutes prior to tipoff

Phil Martelli, head coach of St. Joe's, was not pleased with some of the officiating in the contest

 

The hawk mascot has to continuously flap its wings throughout the ENTIRE game.  Simply insane!