When the men's basketball team moved into its new home in Memorial Hall for the 1960-61 season, the program was in
one of its finest stretches in history. Head coach Harold Anderson had taken the Falcons to seven national postseason
tournaments in 18 years at the helm, and the new gym would be christened by possibly the greatest hoopster to ever put on
the brown and orange, Nate Thurmond.
With the help of Thurmond and sharp-shooter Howard Komives, the Falcons would go 10-4 in their new home, then proceeded to
lose just one game (a five-point loss to Ohio University in January 1963) at home in the next four years. That winning
tradition continues today, as the men's team has only finished below .500 at home four times in the arena now named for its
first coach, Anderson Arena. In fact, the last losing season for the Falcons in Anderson Arena was 1985-86. Entering the
2004-05 season, the Falcons had won almost 73% of their home contests (404 wins, 153 losses), and had completed four
perfect seasons at home, the last in 1999-2000, and have finished with just one loss in six other seasons.
The largest crowd in the 4,700 seat arena (capacity was listed at 5,200 prior to 1983) was a crowd of 5,918 that packed the
gym on January 16, 1971 to see the Falcons hand Miami(OH) a 78-68 loss. Over the years, the Falcons have seen crowds over 5,
200 fill Anderson Arena forty-three times in its history, with over 1.5 million fans passing through the turnstiles since
1960.
Nicknamed "The House That Roars", Anderson Arena was named the top arena for college basketball by commentator and former
University of Detroit head coach Dick Vitale, and the editor of Basketball Times, Larry Donald named the arena as
one of his six "arenas I most enjoy being in for a college basketball game".
(Compiled from notes in the 2004-05 men's basketball media guide, courtesy of the BG Athletic Department.)