November 15, 2009
Multipurpose Activity Center (Capacity: 4,100)
West Long Branch, NJ
Monmouth Hawks vs Seton Hall Pirates
Final Score: 72 – 87
* The arena was renamed OceanFirst Bank Center
** Last Revisit: January 19, 2026
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Monmouth is a small private University, located in West Long Branch, New Jersey, a borough of 8,200 just a bit inland from the Jersey Shore. They began play at the D-I level in the 1980s with humble beginnings in old Boylan Gym. In 2009, their new arena opened and it now has a corporate moniker after an initially bland name. My first visit to this building came during opening weekend as unseasonably warm weather accompanied the debut. Monmouth brought in FIU (coached by Isiah Thomas) for their first game and then two days later, they hosted local Big East team Seton Hall. I came for the latter, before I realized that I should make visits for more average and typical games. That brought me back to review a few times since and in that timespan, the Hawks have changed conferences twice (now in the CAA). They haven’t made the NCAA Tournament in over 20 years, despite a couple fun seasons, including the 2015-2016 squad. That affirmed my already-known bias towards brand recognition by the Tournament Selection Committee as the Hawks were left out despite a 17-3 conference record and non-conference wins over UCLA, Notre Dame, USC, Georgetown and Rutgers. As for the arena experience, it’s good and this is a decent place to come watch basketball.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
Upon arrival from Route 36, there are several commercial shopping centers and strip malls. Closer to campus, it is mainly a residential neighborhood. Overall nothing too appealing and you’ll have to drive a few more miles to find some of the beaches that populate Monmouth County along the Jersey Shore. Ten minutes to the south is historic seaside town of Asbury Park, a place that is buzzing during the summer.
Location Ranking: 5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
The arena is near the center of Monmouth’s campus, which is about five miles east of the Garden State Parkway. Exit 105 onto Rt. 36 East is the primary route, which then leads to Rt. 71 and the entrance to campus. Driving in for weekend games is fine, but beware of some ugly traffic during weeknight games. There is plenty of parking in front of the arena. The parking lot features tight spaces, so go further back and either back-in or pull-through. Getting out after the game was not an issue.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8
Exterior
This facility does not stand alone as it is actually attached to the old gym on the southwest side. The lightly colored brick arena features a small main entrance wing that juts out of an otherwise square building. It’s not the smartest set-up as the box office is outside, not ideal in the heart of winter. My first few visits, I couldn’t figure out where to find the Ticket Office or Will Call in the dark. Signage got better on my return in 2026. The rest of the exterior is full of wide windows and topped off by a small, white roof. Nothing overly eye-opening for the design, a little better than average I’d say.
Exterior Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Concourse
The front entrance has a student union feel as the bookstore is straight-ahead and stairs give way to the upper portion of the facility. Only turnstiles provide assurance that you’re at a sporting event. After the climb, the arena is through doors on your right and then the Leon Hess Champions Hall is to the left. The latter is a nice wide hallway accented by wood paneling and various comfy seating areas by the windows. Walls were bare for a long time until they finally added an athletic feel to things. Bathrooms and concessions are inside the arena as they make use of the wide openings overlaid on the indoor track around each end. Space is so wide that it’s perfect for kids zones, but Monmouth removed any of that fun when I was here in 2026. It’s still fine because kids can run around while the parents can watch the game (or more likely converse). When this portion of the concourse heads towards sideline, it gets uglier as the space is behind the risers of the seating structure. Making your way through that narrow corridor is confined to say the least.
Concourse Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Food
There are two corner concession stands and offerings have dropped off since my last few visits. A more diverse menu has given way to just things like Hamburgers, Hot Dogs and Chicken Fingers. If the place is half-full, lines get quite long and they ran out of a hot item, which enhanced the wait.
Food Ranking: 2.5 out of 8
Interior
The arena’s seating starts with a block O design in the lower-level set-up. Each corner of that O shape has a small section. Further back is a second set of seating on the sidelines, which is more disjointed as the ends are now left open (they used to have retractable bleacher seating). Gaps in the corners are each filled by a dark blue structure comprised of poles and trusses, centered by a scoreboard screen. Suites were built on the top sides of the arena and there is also a ‘club’ area at the top of the west end, quite distanced from the court. The Multipurpose aspect of the inside is evident with the aforementioned track and while it does lead to some oddities in terms of the whole look and feel of the place, it is indeed a basketball arena with good focus on that aspect. Most of the blue seats have backs and they are on the narrow side.
Interior Ranking: 7.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
I love the scoreboard set-up as it begins with a 4-sided video screen above center court. The size is just right and there’s enough replays to satisfy. At the top is a “Monmouth” wordmark and attached at the bottom is a circular screen with score, time, etc (though it does get jumbled). Two of the corner posts have video screens display player stat boards.
Scoreboard Ranking: 4 out of 4
Displays
The Hawk statue in front of the circular grassy area before the main entrance is a great visual and perfectly appropriate heading into a college arena. Inside, the Leon Hess Champions’ Hall, it took a long time for them to spruce up the walls with some athletic related. Though they did it, it’s mostly inspirational posters/displays and I’d rather see this area devoted to various sport achievements and individual accomplishments. There’s an attempt at that further down the hallway with a Hall of Fame (still lacks somewhat). Inside and above the court, simple blue banners for men and white banners for women show off when each made the NCAA Tournament. Dip by the bookstore downstairs to see a jammed trophy case.
Display Ranking: 3 out of 6
Cost
Ticket prices of $16 is where I would expect the cost to be for a Monmouth game. It’s on par with most other CAA teams, if anything, a little below average. Free parking is a nice perk and concession prices weren’t bad either ($13 for a chicken fingers/fries meal, plus a drink).
Cost Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Fan Support
Being a new building and big opponent, it was no surprise that there was a decent crowd on hand for my first visit. I was surprised though that playing Seton Hall did not lead to a sellout. Attendance was about 500 shy of that with an announced crowd of 3,662. My subsequent returns have featured an arena half-full as it makes for a decent family outing, but nothing to a true fandom, legit into following the team event. Average paid attendance in ’24 – ’25 was 1,921 and that puts them 10th in the CAA rankings.
Fan Support Ranking: 3.5 out of 8
Atmosphere
The building has potential to be loud and I experienced that a few times during the initial visit as the students helped get some noise and chants going. However, the more typical game features a smattering of students with little in the way of organization. Other fans are decently into the game and they’ll applaud each basket along with getting a little louder when warranted. There is a small pep band keeping the energy up as well.
Atmosphere Ranking: 7 out of 14
Other Stuff
One thing this visit taught me is to wait awhile before visiting a new building. Along with some missing pieces (banners, hallway decorations), there were also some fan service issues. It was quite confusing to find the actual will call table, despite the small size of the arena. Secondly, programs were available, but they forgot to bring them out. I had to ask around until finally somebody brought out a box sitting by the stairs…..Dr. Martin Luther King made a speech at Monmouth in 1966 and on the day honoring him, they had the podium that he used along with plenty of quotes from that speech.
Game (Initial Visit)
The Hawks hung in for a little while as at one point the game was tied at 23. However, Seton Hall methodically pulled away and a six point run at the end of the 1st half gave them a 42-29 lead. The lead never dipped below 10 in the 2nd half. Jeremy Hazell shot very well and led the team with 27 points. Eugene Harvey provided 8 assists and Herb Pope pulled down 17 boards.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
