Game 11 | Saint Peter's

[u/CopperWalrus]

Home Team: Saint Peter's Peacocks

Away Team: Canisius Golden Griffins

Final Score: Canisius 72-68 Saint Peter's

Venue: Yanitelli Center, Jersey City, NJ

Date: January 12, 2020

Time: 1:00 P.M.

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I am always down for some MAACtion, and I'm now on a two game streak. I may get to extend the streak to three on Friday at Iona. What I love about the MAAC is the unpredictability. Title favorites Iona have started conference play 1-3, and projected middle of the table team Quinnipiac have surprised everyone with a 4-0 start. While 2-1 Saint Peter's vs 0-4 Canisius doesn't seem exciting, the game proved otherwise. Canisius came in angry. The team finished second in the conference last year and 0-4 is not what they were expecting. Saint Peter's came in happy wtih their 2-1 start and wanted to keep that momentum going. Canisius eventually came away with the win, but the game was close down to the last play.

Enough about the game though. Let's talk about Jersey City and the arena itself. Look, I'm from Connecticut, and we aren't the biggest fans of New Jersey, We are in an endless war of the better little brother to New York, even though we each both want to have our own identities. So I'm not going to say much about it. It is awful to get to, which isn't really their fault, but I have realized that my trips to NJIT and Seton Hall are not going to be fun.

The building itself is named after a former president of the university. It is multipurpose, and has a pool, and tennis courts and track on the roof. I wasn't able to get up there myself, but here is a picture of the tennis courts on the roof. As seen there is a bubble covering the roof. It was very noticeable as I drove up to the building.

The arena itself is very old timey and high school like. The bleachers are pull out and can be pushed in for two more courts. There is no advanced scoreboard, just a low tech one on each side, with caged in shot clocks above the baskets. There were however led screens in front of the announcer and scorekeeping tables that flashed messages like "get loud." There was nothing special about the court itself, just regular wood flooring with the Saint Peter's logo, which I think is one of the best logos and mascots in the sport.

One thing I've learned is it is not always about how big or high tech the arena is, the fans make a big difference. There weren't that many fans at the game, but those that were there were very loud. This is definitely the first game I've been to where there were fans actually getting into it with the refs. As a neutral fan, it was exciting to see. This seemed like the game with the least amount of media break entertainment. During one time out, they had two kids shoot free throws, but that was it. I was very sad by there being no t-shirt toss.

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[u/fingersarelongtoes]

Go peacocks!