LEWISTON – Instead of just bringing a ball with them to play basketball on Monday, the Harlem Globetrotters are bringing an entire court to the Colisee.

Faced with the prospect of canceling their first engagement in Lewiston in several years due to a lack of a floor, the basketball team known for its tricks and its one-sided wins over fake opponents went to work.

“When the agreement was first signed, when Mr. (Roger) Theriault was running the building, no one ever secured a floor for them to play on,” said Interim Rink Manager and Assistant City Administrator Phil Nadeau. “When the city assumed control of the building, we actually called up the Globetrotter’s headquarters in Phoenix and said that we had no floor so we migh have to cancel.”

Instead of cutting their losses and packing up to leave, the Globetrotters went to work, searching for a floor for the event.

“They looked all over the place and finally found one in Durham, New Hampshire, at the University of New Hampshire,” Nadeau said. “They agreed to underwrite the cost of getting it here and factor it into the total cost of the event.”

The deal was contingent upon the Colisee’s ability to store the court, which arrived on Thursday morning via three tractor trailer trucks and one large flatbed truck.

“We needed to make sure we had a place to store it,” Nadeau said. “Beacause of the boards and the way it is built, the building needed to be heated. The baskets need to be unloaded a certain way, as do the floorboards. It’s a big process.”