National Basketball Association

Wednesday 11th January 2017

Tip Off 19.00

Oklahoma City Thunder 103 Memphis Grizzlies 95,  attendance 18,203

Thunder Starters ;

Andre Roberson, 8 pts, 8 reb, 1 blk

Domantas Sabonis, 0 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk

Steven Adams, 12 pts, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk

Victor Oladipo, 16 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast

Russell Westbrook, 24 pts, 13 reb, 12 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Playing Reserves ;

Enes Kanter, Alex Abrines, Jerami Grant, Cameron Payne, Nick Collison, Joffrey Lauvergne

Grizzlies Starters ;

Chandler Parsons, 14 pts, 1 stl

JaMychal Green, 4 pts,10 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Marc Gasol, 9. Pts, 7 reb, 2 stl, 2 blk

Tony Allen, 2 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl

Mike Conley, 22 pts, 4 reb, 6 ast, 3 stl

Playing Reserves ;

Zach Randolph, Vince Carter, Andrew Harrison, James Ennis III, Troy Daniels

@ Chesapeake Energy Arena

100, West Reno Avenue

Oklahoma City, OK 73102

Admission $43 + $11.50 fees, Resale, Print at Home ticket

Programme free, 32 pages.

The Chesapeake Energy Arena was opened in 2002, known as the Ford Center until 2010, before one year as Oklahoma City Arena, then taking on the name of the current sponsor. From 2005-2007 it played host to the New Orleans Hornets NBA team as damage caused by Huricane Katrina prevented them from playing in their own city. In 2008, the Seattle SuperSonics franchise was moved to Oklahoma City and the Thunder have played here since then.

The arena is very easy to reach from Dallas, albeit a three hour drive north on I-35, then one  junction west along I-40 and the arena is clearly visible on the right hand side. I parked in the first car park as i exited the highway, for a bargain $7, and from here it was maybe 7-8 minutes walk. Plenty of eateries less than ten minutes walk from the arena, although the food inside looked ok, so it wouldn’t have been a problem if this had been a last resort. It also made a change to visit a large city where there were not groups of low life’s on every corner. Despite the attendance being given as an 18,203 sell out, there were plenty of empty seats and i had one to my left and four to my right that were free and i think that there were probably only around 16,500-17,000 actually here. Despite being on the top tier, the view was really good, and it was still possible to make out who all the players were without the use of the overhead screens. The oddest thing concerning the actual buying of tickets for Thunder matches, is that they will not sell to anyone with a Texas address. There is no problem buying from resale ticket outlets however. This has to be one of the most stupid marketing ploys, especially as the NBA is supposed to be a global brand.

Both teams look good bets to make the end of season play offs. Russell Westbrook was once again outstanding for the Thunder, notching up his 18th Triple-Double of the season. It is not hard to see how, along with James Harden at Houston Rockets, he is widely tipped to be named MVP this season in the NBA.

Another statistical milestone tonight saw Vince Carter come off the bench for the Grizzlies to shoot three 3-pointers, taking him above Jason Kidd on the all-time 3 point scorers list in the NBA. He now stands 5th, on 1,989.

United States Collegiate Athletic Association

Tuesday 10th January 2017

Tip Off 19.00

Southwestern Adventist University Knights 75 North Lake College Blazers 68,  attendance 120

@ Leiske-Pultar Gymnasium

100, West Hillcrest Street

Keene, TX 76059

$5 Admission

No programme.

Knights led by 12 points at the break and were up by 15 points a couple of minutes into the second half. The game saw four ties and six lead changes. Travis Gagau top scored with 31 points for the Knights, including an impressive 12-13 free throws, with Ayo Daya leading the way for the Blazers with 22 points.

National Association Intercollegiate Athletics

Sooner Athletic Conference

Saturday 7th January 2017

Tip Off 17.00

Southwestern Assemblies of God University Lions 76 Oklahoma City University Stars 73,  attendance 260

@ Sheaffer Center

1200, Sycamore Street

Waxahachie, TX 75165

$5 Admission

Team sheet, free.

Season Guide, free, 16 pages.

This game was a cracker. SAGU managed to topple the NAIA ranked number 5 team, although they were hanging on at the end, having been up by 18 points early in the second half. Lou Dunbar scored 34 points for the visitors, with Keyunta Watkins getting 20 points for the Lions.

National Junior College Athletic Association

Saturday 7th January 2017

Tip Off 14.00

Hill College Rebels v Redlands Community College Cougars, GAME POSTPONED

@ Bob Bullock Sports Center

112, Lamar Drive

Hillsboro, TX 76645.

Arrived here half an hour before the start to find a totally deserted car park. A quick check on the home teams website showed the game still on, and the fact that I was indeed in the right place, as it was being played at Hillsboro Gym, according to their post of today’s scheduled events. A look at the NJCAA website however, showed that the game was postponed.

This was supposed to be part one of a double of games for me today. At least I had plenty of time to head back north for the second game……3 hours to kill, as it was only 34 miles !

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III

American Southwest Conference

Thursday 5th January 2017

Tip Off 19.30

University Texas Tyler Patriots 76 University Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders 73,  attendance 280

@ Louise Herrington Patriot Center

3900, University Boulevard

Tyler, TX 75799

$5 Admission

Team Sheet, free.

Even though I arrived 20 minutes before the start, there were no team sheets left. This is always a problem when the women are scheduled to play beforehand and their team line up is printed on the back of the same sheet as the men’s. In fact, I only saw three people with them, so perhaps there weren’t many printed ? Luckily, someone had left one on their seat at the end of the game, which although creased, was good enough to be put in a drawer when I got home, unlikely to ever see the light of day again !

Tyler led 42-36 at the break with a 9-0 points run to end the half. It was 71-71 with under two minutes remaining  and 73-73 with just 23.9 seconds left. Skyler Hadden and Melvin Anthony top scored for Tyler with 14 points each, the latter scoring 8 from 9 free throws. Braden Hammond led the way for the visitors with 21 points.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I

Big 12 Conference

Wednesday 4th January 2017

Tip Off 19.00

University Texas Longhorns 82 Oklahoma State University Cowboys 79,  attendance 9,753

@ Frank Erwin Center

1701, Red River Street

Austin, TX 78701

$6 Admission

Team sheet, free

Season Guide, free, 92 pages.

Longhorns hung on for the win having led by 11 points early in the second half. A good result against a team with a better winning record so far this season. Tevin Mack top scored with 27 pts for the Longhorns, with Jeffrey Carroll posting 24 pts for the Cowboys.

Excellent pricing for this game as well, which was the same for all the games over the festive period. I was very surprised at the number of ticket touts trying to drum up business outside the arena. Just exactly what trade do they expect with 8,000 empty seats and half the available tickets only costing $6.

Yet again it was possible to buy the cheapest ticket and move to a better seat once everything settled down, although, unlike some of the ridiculously exaggerated attendances given out, this was pretty close to genuine, so more concentration required to spot the seats that were going to remain empty. Also, with the arena holding so many, there was no need to pre book either, which saves on a booking fee. Parking was $10 and just a 7 minute walk away and only two sets of traffic lights to negotiate before rejoining the I-35 back north for the all too familiar three hour drive.

The Frank Erwin Center (Frank C. Erwin Jr. Center, to give it its full name) was opened in November 1977, undergoing expansion and renovation between 2001 and 2003, giving it a seated capacity of 16,540.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III

American Southwest Conference

Monday 19th December 2016

Tip Off 15.00

Le Tourneau University Yellow Jackets 89 University Texas Tyler Patriots 86,  attendance 429

@ Solheim Arena

Solheim Recreation Center

2100, South Mobberley Avenue

Longview, TX 75602

No admission

Team sheet, free.

What a pity more games are not scheduled for this start time during midweek. I thought parking may be a problem, but the campus was pretty much deserted, so managed to get a space about 50 yards from the building entrance.

National Association Intercollegiate Athletics

Red River Athletic Conference

Saturday 17th December 2016

Tip Off 19.30

Wiley College Wildcats 82 Huston-Tillotson University Rams 75,  attendance 85

@ Alumni Gymnasium

711, Wiley Avenue

Marshall, TX 75670

$10 Admission

No programme.

It had only taken 25 minutes to cross back into Texas and around another 20 minutes more to reach Marshall. With Wiley College being only three of four miles off route it would save me just over 300 miles by doing them as I was passing by, rather than make a special journey in the future.

Wiley stretched their winning streak to 8 games with this. A halftime lead of 47-31 looked like it was pretty plain sailing, but a late rally by the Rams made it interesting. It was 70-69 with 2 minutes 11 seconds left, but a couple of two pointers took it back to 74-69 with 1 minute 26 seconds left.

One thing to note here was the extortionate admission price for this level, although the ticket could be exchanged for admission to a future game, which is not much use if you don’t live in Marshall.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I

Shreveport-Bossier Holiday Classic

Saturday 17th December 2016

Tip Off 16.30

Northwestern State University Demons 68 University Louisiana Monroe Warhawks 64,  attendance 737

@ CenturyLink Center

2000, CenturyLink Center Drive

Bossier City, LA 71112

Admission $15 (including $3 fee) covering all 3 games.

Programme free, 4 pages.

This was a real improvement on the first game, as it should have been, being two divisions higher. It was very one sided in the first half, ending 40-22, but an 11 point run saw Monroe gain belief and the defecit was further cut to 45-41 and then 47-44. They were unable to get any nearer than this, but did get it back down to three points again at 67-64, before a point from the free throw line finished it off as they were having to rely on fouling to try and level it.

There was an improvement in the atmosphere as the Demons band and cheerleaders arrived,and they also played the national anthem before the game.

Not sure how they worked out the attendance though, as this was given as 200 more than the first game, so can’t have been done on number of tickets sold for the day. I had estimated 450-500.

Following on from this game at 7pm would be the final game of the day, between Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs and Grambling State University Tigers. Had the second game finished later, or gone into overtime, I would have stayed for this as well, but in the end decided to head back into Texas and do a new venue on the way home.

National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III

Shreveport-Bossier Holiday Classic

Saturday 17th December 2016

Tip Off 14.00

Centenary College Gents 80 Millsaps College Majors 54,  attendance 537

@ CenturyLink Center

2000, CenturyLink Center Drive

Bossier City, LA 71112

Admission $15 (including $3 fee) covering all 3 games.

Programme free, 4 pages.

The CenturyLink Center was opened in November 2000, taking on its current sponsors name in 2010. It seats 14,000, although the top tier was partitioned off today. In 2002, the Nashville Predators played Atlanta Thrashers here in a NHL Pre Season game and in 2014 and 2016, New Orleans Pelicans took on Dallas Mavericks in NBA Pre Season games.

The Shreveport-Bossier Holiday Classic involved 3 games, all being staged here, and for a one ticket price covering all three.

I can only assume that the attendance figure given was for total tickets sold for the day as I reckoned there were only about 250 present for this one.