Arena #142: Jones Convocation Center - Chicago St. vs. Loyola (MD)

Started off Year 12 of Mission 351 with Arena #142 by finally making a stop at Chicago St. to complete all 13 venues in the state of Illinois.  Chicago St. rarely plays Division 1 home non-conference games so had to take advantage of the opportunity when they actually hosted the Loyola-Maryland Greyhounds during the first weekend of the season rather than taking my chances with a WAC conference game come January or February.  Honestly, my expectations of the crowd and the venue were pretty low heading into this one knowing that Chicago St. has been one of the worst schools in the nation the last number of years, but the game turned out to be reasonably competitive and the arena was actually really nice; though adding a videoboard of some sort would certain enhance the in-arena experience.  I don’t think there were more than 300-400 folks in attendance for the game since there’s obviously a lot of better things to do on a fall Saturday in Chicago than catch a 2 pm Cougars game, but the few that were there were engaged enough when Chicago St. was scoring.  Chicago St. showed some better than expected offense, but in the end their defense was just too porous in allowing the Greyhounds to out-shoot them 98-85.

Main entrance to the Jones Convocation Center at Chicago St.

Opening tip between the Cougars and the Greyhounds

Not a huge crowd, but everyone had great seats!