Arena #149: Jadwin Gymnasium - Princeton vs. Lehigh

After a few weeks off to actually do some work and celebrate the holidays, I had to take advantage of the week between Christmas and New Year’s to get some random games in, and the best spot to do that was the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) since I haven’t really covered that part of the country much to date.  For Arena #149, I started at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, NJ for a Sunday afternoon non-conference matchup between the Princeton Tigers and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks.  Jadwin Gymnasium was certainly a unique venue for a basketball game as it’s configured as a multi-purpose facility to support track and other sports in addition to basketball, yet when set up for basketball it didn’t have that cavernous feel that a lot of other multi-purpose venues I’ve been to have.  Impressively, there was a more robust crowd than I expected for a Sunday afternoon and opposite a Giants/Eagles game and without the students being on campus.  As for the on-court action, the game was reasonably competitive throughout, but it never seemed like Princeton was not in control of the game and the Tigers took home the win.

A rainy afternoon outside Jadwin Gymnasium

Inside Jadwin Gymnasium

Opening tip between the Tigers and Mountain Hawks

Princeton attacking the rim in the second half

Arena #115: Newman Arena - Cornell vs. Colgate

Game 3 of our 9 day east coast trip brought us to upstate New York this time for my first Ivy League arena, Newman Arena, at Cornell University for a matchup between the Cornell Big Red and the Colgate Raiders.  This visit turned out to be unique for 2 reasons.  The first being I met another fellow college basketball junkie making the same rounds as me in trying to get to every DI men's basketball arena in the country.  The second being seeing none other than Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim in the crowd of a thousand folks or less as him and his wife were there to watch their son Jimmy Boeheim play for the Big Red.  Newman Arena looked good from the outside, but the inside was nothing too memorable.  The small crowd that was there wasn't terribly engaged in the game and the student section seemed to consist of 10 folks or less on this Sunday afternoon, which was a little disappointing even at an academic institution like Cornell.  As for the game itself, the game was competitive in the first half, but Cornell struggled to score in the second half and Colgate ultimately pulled away for a 16 point road win in Ithaca.

Outside Newman Arena on a pretty nice November afternoon in upstate NY

Inside Newman Arena...crowd optional

Opening tip between the Big Red and the Raiders

Cornell going in for a dunk trying to stay in the game early in the second half