With a hard fought tie three days behind them, the October 30, 1923 Daily Home News reported the entire Rutgers football team was invited to see Jack Ritchie fight Sid Kelly in only the second boxing night held at the newly opened Masonic Temple Building at North Fourth Street and Raritan Avenue (aka Route 27) in Highland Park. Head coach Foster Sanford, assistant coach Jack Wallace, trainer Jake Besas, swim coach James Reilly, players Homer Hazel, Carl Waite and others attended. A fire destroyed the Ballantine Gymnasium on January 7, 1930 and the basketball team wouldn’t play on campus again until a January 6, 1932 game at the new College Avenue Gymnasium.
In between, Rutgers home court was the second floor of the Masonic Temple where the Scarlet went a perfect 10-0 spanning two seasons. A December 6, 1930 game with CCNY was erroneously listed in Rutgers current basketball record as a loss at home. Most people go right past the building today never realizing it served as the basketball team’s second home after the Ballantine Gym and before the College Avenue Gym. A massive fire in 1965 destroyed everything except the first floor of the structure that was saved by its concrete ceilings. You can still see the scorch marks on the bricks on the North Fourth Avenue side and an outside ladder that led down from the basketball court in the small parking area behind the various businesses that now operate on the first floor. Today, that space is occupied by Pino's Gift Basket Shoppe and Wine Cellar.
In between, Rutgers home court was the second floor of the Masonic Temple where the Scarlet went a perfect 10-0 spanning two seasons. A December 6, 1930 game with CCNY was erroneously listed in Rutgers current basketball record as a loss at home. Most people go right past the building today never realizing it served as the basketball team’s second home after the Ballantine Gym and before the College Avenue Gym. A massive fire in 1965 destroyed everything except the first floor of the structure that was saved by its concrete ceilings. You can still see the scorch marks on the bricks on the North Fourth Avenue side and an outside ladder that led down from the basketball court in the small parking area behind the various businesses that now operate on the first floor. Today, that space is occupied by Pino's Gift Basket Shoppe and Wine Cellar.
