Earlier this year, I attended three Division III basketball games in New York City as a way to see some new venues and learn a bit more about the town. There are 16 schools in the lower divisions in NYC (two of them are in D-II) and I still have 11 on the list. I'll try to see one or two a month and finish this mini-quest next season.
The first visit of the new season was at St. Joseph Brooklyn, a small school located less than a mile from Barclays Center. They play out of The Hill Center, whose capacity of 270 makes it one of the smallest venues I have ever visited. Opened in 2014, it is named for S. Elizabeth A. Hill, the college's sixth president. It is located at 212 Vanderbilt Avenue and as you walk by, you would likely not notice that there is NCAA hoops taking place mere feet away.
Entry is free and just inside there is a table with some candy and Gatorade, as well as a small Hall of Fame.
There is also a display case with a few trophies, including some from when the school was a member of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, which they left in 2014 to join the Skyline Conference, whose schools are listed on a banner inside. You will notice below that there are two St. Joseph's; just like nearby Long Island University there are two campuses, one in Brooklyn and one on Long Island.
Inside, there is a single set of bleachers on the far side, so you have to walk behind the players as they warm up.
That's all there is to say. I really enjoy discovering these places in the middle of the metropolis and look forward to seeing more of them over the next few months.
The Game
The visitors were the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels from the Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven, who were on a brief tour of the city as they would face Yeshiva the following day. The game started with both teams taking several three pointers and I expected it to be that sort of afternoon, but they settled down and started distributing the ball inside as well.
Tied at 16, the Bears went on an 17-6 run to lead by 11 with 2:30 to go, only for the Stormy Petrels (a seabird, rather strange for a team from Atlanta) to score the last 11 points of the half to send us to the break knotted at 33. There were only 12 fouls in the half and no media timeouts, so it took about 35 minutes to complete.
The second half saw St. Joseph's take a 40-35 lead on a Jonathan Reno (shooting above) trey, and then they went ice cold, making just 1 of 18 shots and adding four turnovers as Oglethorpe authored a 27-4 run over 11:47 that decided the game. The Bears kept calling timeouts, but they could not stop the Oglethorpe onslaught.
The last six minutes were academic as the Petrels prevailed 73-53 in a game that took less than 90 minutes, helped by some good officiating, with only 24 fouls called. There were a couple of memorable plays, including an alley-oop by Joshua Gordon (blocking a shot above) on a perfect lob assist from Justin Nazon that had the 122 in attendance going crazy. But that was the highlight for the Bears, who shot just 28.4% from the field in the loss.
I really enjoyed my brief time here. With no media, there are no media timeouts so the game moves quickly. And at this level, the participants are here for the love of the game. Both coaches, Joseph Cocozello for the Bears and Philip Ponder for Oglethorpe, are in their 22nd year at their position, something you rarely see at Division I with coaches leaving at the first sign of success. Sure, the basketball isn't as good, but it beats seeing a D3 team getting shellacked by one from D1 as I have too often done in the past.
Notes
Fort Greene Park is just a few blocks away from the school and has the Prison Ship Martyr's Monument at its center. Dedicated to those who died in captivity aboard British Prison Ships in the Revolutionary War, there is a crypt with bones beneath the base. There is also a staircase to the top but it is not open to the public.
Best,
Sean
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