Arena #155: Daskalakis Athletic Center - Drexel vs. Delaware

While my trip to Philly for Arena #154 was an aggressive 8-hour drive from Greensboro, my trip to Arena #155 was one of my shortest as I remained in Philly for a visit to the Daskalakis Athletic Center on the campus of Drexel University for a Colonial Athletic showdown between the host Dragons and the visiting Delaware Blue Hens.  While this was my first time inside the Daskalakis Athletic Center, it wasn’t the first time I’d seen it from the outside having walked past it during my visit to the Palestra just 13 months prior.  This was a much more normally set up and designed arena, especially at the mid-major level, compared to yesterday’s stop at La Salle.  The crowd wasn’t huge for this game, but the few Drexel students that were at the game were definitely into the game and the Blue Hens brought themselves up a strong contingent from Newark, who were also quite boisterous when Delaware was playing well.  The atmosphere was also helped by the fact that this game was pretty competitive throughout.  Drexel led by 10 at half before Delaware made a bit of a run and the game was played within a 4-8 point window throughout most of the second half.  Ultimately, the home fans were able to go home happy as Drexel won the game by 6.

The dragon eyes are a nice touch inside the main entrance 

Pregame inside the seating bowl of the arena

There were a lot of students at this game, but had to get a picture of the few that were there trolling the Blue Hens

Opening tip between Drexel and Delaware

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 #121: Kirby Sports Center - Lafayette vs. St. Francis-Brooklyn

For the ninth and final game of our east coast road trip we headed back over to Pennsylvania to catch some non-conference action between the Lafayette Leopards of the Patriot League and the Saint Francis-Brooklyn Terriers from the Northeast Conference.  The Kirby Sports Center, which served as Arena #121 of Mission 351, was laid out like a standard high school gym including movable bleachers behind the baskets to allow for the court to be used in different layouts.  The crowd wasn’t full by any means, but there was better than expected support for a Sunday afternoon non-conference game.  Sadly for the home fans, they saw their Leopards struggle throughout the game, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  This led to a pretty comfortable halftime lead for the Terriers, a lead they would not relinquish in the second half in taking the win back to BKN.

The nondescript entrance to the Kirby Sports Center 

Seating area of the Kirby Sports Center pregame

Opening tip between the Leopards and the Terriers

St. Francis-Brooklyn with a nice block on a Lafayette drive to the hoop

Arena #118: Finneran Pavilion - #8 Villanova vs. #18 Michigan

Sixth game in as many days took us to the Northwest suburbs of Philly this time and the campus of Villanova University for a highly anticipated National Championship rematch between the defending national champion Villanova Wildcats and the Michigan Wolverines from the newly refurbished Finneran Pavilion.  While this was technically the second game at The Finn as the locals call it now, it was the first big game and the fact that it was a national championship game rematch increased the excitement that much more.  I don’t know too well what Finneran Pavilion looked like before the refurbishment and before GQ Jay brought home two national titles in three years, but the entrance and concourse was a great display of Villanova’s basketball prowess over time and especially over these last 3 years with their trophies and championship banners on display.  The game however, was much more of a disappointment for both myself and all the Villanova fans in the building as the Wildcats were thoroughly pounded by the Wolverines from the opening tip.  The capacity crowd of 7000 or so was fully engaged at tip and the student section was going crazy, but all that ended quickly as Michigan jumped to an early lead and Villanova couldn’t buy a bucket.  I knew Villanova lost a lot over the summer, but Michigan was utterly impressive on the road in a very hostile environment for this one.

Main entrance to the newly refurbished Finneran Pavilion

Numerous banners honoring Villanova men's and women's Big East Championships hanging on the concourse 

Ribbon cutting ceremony pregame (naming donor Bill Finneran holding the scissors next to Jay Wright)

Capacity crowd hyped before the tip for this 2018 National Championship rematch

Scrum for the ball during the second half of action

Arena #117: The Palestra - Pennsylvania vs. Lafayette

Fifth game in five days brought me to one of my remaining two bucket list venues; the Palestra in Philly for a matchup between the Pennsylvania Quakers and the Lafayette Leopards.  When one thinks of college basketball history, three venues probably come to mind immediately: Allen Fieldhouse at Kansas, Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke, and the Palestra.  I myself would add Hinkle Fieldhouse at Butler to that list as well.  Anyhow, since this was my first visit to Philly, a visit to the Palestra was a must, even if the game being attended was likely going to be subpar.  It’s amazing the feeling you get walking into such a venue with so much history and that was before checking out all the history displayed on the walls and in cases throughout the concourse!  As for the game itself, it wasn’t one of the more competitive affairs I’ve ever seen, but was fun to see the Quakers lighting it up from 3 early and often throughout the contest.  It was also awesome to have scored some pretty affordable second row seats at such an historic venue, but wasn’t too surprising when the crowd probably numbered in the hundreds on a Tuesday night for this contest... 

Outside the historic Palestra

Decades of history captured on the walls throughout the concourse

Spacious, but cozy seating bowl with banners honoring all the Philly Big 5 schools

Pregame introductions inside the historic Palestra

Lafayette taking it to the hoop and getting rejected!

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!

Arena #114: Sojka Pavilion - Bucknell vs. Fairfield

Thanks to both Wisconsin and Penn St. having subpar football seasons resulting in an 11 am kickoff for their contest, we were able to hustle out of State College and make the 90 minute or so drive to Lewisburg, PA to catch the Bucknell Bison taking on Fairfield later that evening.  Bucknell is located in a fairly small town and the campus seem relatively small as well, but looked like a beautiful place and the Sojka Pavilion didn't disappoint either.  Having a capacity of around 5,000 or so was perfect for a school this size and for a team that's been as successful in the Patriot League in recent years as the Bison have been.  Turned out this would be one of the most competitive games I've seen in a while as the game came down to the final shot where Bucknell was unable to convert to force OT or take home the win.

Main entrance to the Sojka Pavilion

Opening tip between the Bison and the Stags

Bucknell getting a bucket in the paint

Decent Saturday night crowd for the home opener to the 2018-19 season

Arena #113: Bryce Jordan Center - Penn St. vs. North Florida

Not only do I hope to visit everyone DI men's basketball arena, but I'm also trying to see the Wisconsin Badgers football team play in every Big Ten stadium and the schedule makers created a perfect doubleheader for me in having Badger football play on Saturday, November 10 with the Penn St. men's basketball team opening the 2018-19 season the day before at the Bryce Jordan Center.  Obviously being a season opener, Penn St. didn't exactly schedule a top tier opponent for the contest, which led to a relatively sparse and unengaged crowd for the game.  The building itself isn't anything unique and has obviously been around for a number of years, which isn't too surprising given the focus on football and the 103,000+ seat football stadium located across the parking lot from the arena.  I imagine the crowd gets a little more engaged come B1G play, but definitely wouldn't rank the Bryce Jordan Center in the top half of the conference.

Outside the Bryce Jordan Center on a rainy Friday evening

Not exactly a full house 15 minutes before tip... 

It was banner raising night honoring the school's NIT Championship back in 2018

 

North Florida attempting to get back into the game