Arena #158: EagleBank Arena - Virginia Commonwealth vs. George Mason

One final day in the DMV gave me a chance for one final doubleheader before catching my flight back home from DCA.  The day started just west of DC at Arena #158, EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA, for an Atlantic 10 Conference contest between Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason, which are the last 2 schools in the A10 to make the Final Four (even if neither school was actually in the A10 when they went to the Final Four).  EagleBank Arena looks nice from the outside, but upon entry I must say I was a little disappointed with the state of the concourse in that it was pretty narrow and just looked old.  The seating bowl, however, was pretty standard and I especially liked the color scheme of the seats in GMU green and gold.  I was also quite pleased with the amount of people at the game as the arena was nearly full for this matchup and there was even a decent sized student section present for the game.

One of the more unique things, though, was the band, which had a drum set that was lined with neon green lights and included a couple of live cover singers.  Since this was Superhero Day at GMU, the band leader was even dressed up as I believe the Green Lantern.  As for the game, both VCU and GMU came into this game with strong records, though VCU had a few more quality wins than the Patriots, including a win over LSU.  As the game progressed, it became clear that VCU’s record was a lot more accurate than GMU’s as VCU imposed its will throughout the game, especially dominating in the paint as the Rams’ center, Marcus Santos-Silva racked up 26 points and 12 rebounds in the 13-point VCU win.

Outside of the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, VA

The green and gold striping of the seats inside EagleBank Arena is on point

Pregame entrance by the George Mason team and cheerleaders

Opening tip between the Rams and Patriots

VCU pulls up for the mid range jumper

Arena #154: Tom Gola Arena - La Salle vs. #20 Dayton

For Arena #154, I scheduled probably one of my more aggressive drives in going from Greensboro, NC to Philadelphia, PA for a visit to Tom Gola Arena on the campus of La Salle University.  I originally was planning to stop in Annapolis on this day for a game at the US Naval Academy, but when I saw that La Salle was hosting a top 20 ranked Dayton Flyers team, with one of the more electrifying players in the country in Obi Toppin, I had to call an audible.  La Salle is one of the Philly Big 5 schools and is the fourth of the five schools I’ve now visited (only Temple left).  Gola Arena was certainly one of the stranger venues that I’ve been to in that the arena itself was on a completely different level than the concourse and concessions.  Additionally, I was disappointed to find out that my ticket at center court in like the 16^th row was only a bleacher seat with no chairbacks (chairbacks ended the row in front of me…sigh).  Thankfully, they had a holiday promo with $10 tickets so I didn’t feel quite so disappointed in the value.  The on-court action certainly left a little to be desired, however, as La Salle was wholly dominated from tip to horn by the Flyers, though I certainly did enjoy the athleticism and skills that Toppin displayed during the game.  I look forward to seeing what this Flyers team does in March, especially given their performance in the Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving week.

Outside of the Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia

A+ creativity in painting the bleachers to spell out La Salle

Opening tip between the Flyers and Explorers

La Salle with the floater early in the contest

Arena #132: Stuart C. Siegel Center - Virginia Commonwealth vs. Wichita St.

For the 11^th and final game of this trip, we drove another couple hours east in the state of Virginia to Richmond for a non-conference matchup between 2 of the premier mid-major programs of the last decade, the Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) Rams and the Wichita St. Shockers at the Siegel Center on the VCU campus.  Now I’ve been a fan of both of these programs for years due to their coaches (Gregg Marshall at Wichita St. due to his time at Winthrop as discussed a few games back) and former VCU coach Shaka Smart having attended the same high school as I did in Oregon, Wisconsin a couple years earlier than me.  Based on the other experiences on this trip, I didn’t have much of an expectation for an atmosphere at this game either given it was scheduled three days before Christmas with students on break, but the locals definitely filled up the building for this one, which was great to see.  The Siegel Center is a perfectly sized venue for a school like VCU holding 7-8,000 people so there were few bad seats in the house (though the corner we were stuck in seemed to be one of those few bad seats…).  The school prominently displays its NCAA participation and championship banners on the walls throughout the arena and has its 2011 improbable Final Four appearance banner hanging right at midcourt.  For the game itself, this was certainly not one of the finest displays of basketball I’ve seen on either end of the court.  The first half was competitive, but the offenses both struggled at times to find the basket, though the Rams were a little better in the half to take a 3 point lead to the break.  After the half, however, VCU exerted more of its will on the Shockers and the Shockers couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean for numerous stretches in the half, scoring only 20 points for the entire 20 minute period, leading to a comfortable win for the Rams in the end.

Impressive facade of the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA

Love the creativity with VCU spelled out in yellow seats on one side and Rams on the other

Getting this matchup between the Rams and the Shockers underway

VCU looking to score in the post over the interior presence of the Shockers

Arena #120: Prudential Center - Seton Hall vs. Saint Louis

For the Saturday nightcap, and third game of the day, we make the mile walk back to the Prudential Center to see the Seton Hall Pirates take on the Saint Louis Billikens.  Now I’m not a huge fan of multi-purpose arenas as I think those with NHL and basketball teams compromise basketball sight lines for hockey sight lines, but in situations like this it helps a school like Seton Hall get to play in a large, modern venue with a host of amenities for their fans.  I admit I didn’t know much about Seton Hall or Saint Louis going into this matchup, but I hoped for a competitive game and boy did we get that!  No matter what two teams are playing, it’s always fun when a game comes down to the final possession like this one did.  The Pirates trailed most of the night, but closed the deficit late and had a chance to take the final shot down 2 to force OT or take home the win.  Sadly for the home fans, the Hall was unable to convert at the buzzer and the Billikens took home the win in front of a surprisingly decent crowd of probably half capacity or so for this non-conference tilt.

Outside the Prudential Center on a Saturday evening

Quite an impressive arena, buoyed by the fact that the NHL's Devils also play here

Opening tip between the Pirates and the Billikens

A battle for the rock during the second half of play inside The Rock

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!