Day 4: Monmouth Hawks at Rider Broncs

Alumni Gymnasium (capacity 1,650)
Lawrenceville, New Jersey

The Result: Monmouth 67, Rider 66
The hoop gods smiled on me for a second consecutive night. Tonight’s clash started sloppy, but ended with a frantic finish in a packed house.

Monmouth’s defensive intensity made the difference. After the Hawks drew within one point with 18 seconds left, they called a time-out. When Rider inbounded, the Hawks trapped Rider’s Harris Mansell in the corner. He tried to force the ball to a teammate, but Monmouth stole it and Whitney Coleman scored the go-ahead bucket with five seconds left. Rider raced down the floor and missed their final shot as the buzzer sounded.

Venue Rating: A-
Facility: A-. Rider’s Alumni Gymnasium is a fantastic place to see a basketball game. It’s a tiny gym that steadily grows hotter and stuffier as the game progresses. One side is all bleachers, while the other is split between chair-back seats and bleachers. It’s one of the purest basketball venues you’ll find. On the downside, you have to walk a mile to find a restroom and good luck finding a water fountain.

Attendance (1,650): A+ . Finally, my first capacity crowd of the tour. In fact, judging from the many students sitting in the bleacher aisles, it may have been beyond capacity. I’ve come a long way from Colgate…literally and figuratively.

Basketball Environment: A-. A student performed a solo of the national anthem, and Rider had a pep band, cheerleaders and dance team in action tonight, along with a Bronc mascot.

I enjoyed the spectators that surrounded me. They seemed to be a more informed group, peppered with a few amusing loudmouths that provided entertainment with color commentary and G-rated sarcasm directed at refs, players and coaches.

If the fans amped up their participation to the steady pace seen at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Alumni Gym would have easily garnered an A+.

Fan Face-Off: Monmouth Edges Rider
The Fan Face-Off winner isn’t selected by number of fans, or by their volume. It focuses on the performance of the fans who show up for their team, regardless of their number.

Tonight’s Fan Face-Off competition was just as close as the game itself, but the small yet boisterous Monmouth contingent is walking away with the honors. Just when I thought I would never hear an away team chanting, the Hawk boosters came through with “de-fense” chants that challenged the Broncs’ fans in their own gym.

Approximately 10 Rider students stood for the entire game, leading chants throughout. If only more of the student body exerted the same level of energy. Most of them didn’t really get into it until late in the game.

Those 10 Rider students need to step up a notch in classiness. They yelled “sucks!” at the end of each opposing player’s name during the pregame introductions, and closed out the evening with a common yet foul-mouthed chant that can be politely translated to mean “nonsense.” They were, however, on better behavior than during my first visit to Rider last November. (Which was another great game at Rider...on that night, Bucknell’s Kevin Bettencourt hit the game winner with 1.2 seconds left.)

Best Mascot: Rider Broncs
“Broncs” gets the edge, as it connotes strength, speed and aggressiveness. It also inspired the creative nickname for Rider’s rowdy Alumni Gymnasium: the “Broncs’ Zoo.”

Graduation Success Rate: Rider 82%, Monmouth 56%
A blowout for the Broncs. Rider alumnus and ESPN analyst Digger Phelps should be proud.

Life on the Road
It was a long haul from Boston to Lawrenceville. On the way, I called in to the nationally syndicated Tony Bruno Show to discuss my adventure. I tried to share my blog address at the end, but was immediately jettisoned. No free plugs, even for a site that exists purely for the love of the game.

Driving past New York City for the first time since 9/11 gave me pause. The Empire State Building once again dominates the skyline, like a mother that has lost two sons yet proudly and gracefully carries on as the family’s matriarch.

I watched tonight’s game with Marie Meseroll, grandmother of my Bucknell friend Forrest Chilton. Marie and her husband Charlie, both Bucknellians themselves, live in a nice neighborhood across the street from Rider. Their home is awash in Bucknell and bison decor. I enjoyed two treats at their home: a nice afternoon nap in a cozy guest bed, and a delicious home-cooked dinner highlighted by shrimp and cocktail sauce prepared to perfection.

My streak of flawless navigation ended after the game in an unlikely way: En route to my mother’s house in suburban Philly, I inexplicably missed the exit from I-95 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, costing me about 15 or 20 minutes.

Total Miles To Date: 1,250

Next Game: Major mileage. I’ll stop in Alexandria, Virginia to pick up college buddy Forrest Chilton at the school where he teaches, then we’ll continue to Williamsburg to see Cornell square off with Virginia Military in the opening game of the William & Mary Tip-Off Classic before returning to Alexandria for the night.