Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament took place in Washington, DC this week and we could not have been more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD covered all of the angles so we hope you enjoyed our cascade of coverage in the days past. Jon Teitel concludes our series with Tuesday night’s title game:
I am loving the diversity of the pregame meals this week: tonight was make-your-own-tacos!
I thought we might get a larger crowd for the title game between Northeastern and Hofstra (especially since it is a rematch of last year’s title game) but I supposed that it is hard to just pop into DC for the night if you live in New York or Massachusetts. Sadly, 1 of the plenty of good seats available was my own: I assumed my assigned seat remained the same as the 1st 3 rounds, which means I did not read the seating chart and blew my chance to sit courtside: son of a bee-sting! Let’s tip things off:
Exactly 1 minute into the game someone accidentally tore the net on Hofstra’s side of the court, which required a delay while the maintenance guy brought in his stepladder to fix it. Fortunately, he was able to take care of it in just a couple of minutes:
Northeastern got out to a 10-3 lead thanks to a 3 and a layup by SR SG Bolden Brace, forcing Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich to call a quick timeout:
SR PG Desure Buie got Hofstra back into the game with a trio of 1st half threes but Huskies SO SG Shaquille Walters made a pair of pretty fadeaway jump shots including 1 at the end of the half to give his team a 30-28 halftime lead and give the Pride faithful some cause for concern.
The game remained tight throughout the majority of the 2nd half, although Northeastern leading scorer had a shockingly quiet night with 11 PTS on 11 FGs. Coach Mihalich basically played his 5 starters the entire game: 3 played all 40 minutes, 2 played 37 minutes, and the 6 minutes from the subs were inconsequential. However, it seemed to work due to a total team effort: 20 PTS from Buie, 19 from Eli Pemberton, 17 from Jalen Ray, and a career-high 15 REB from JR big man Isaac Kante. Most of the stats between the 2 teams were pretty even, as they both shot exactly 10-25 from beyond the arc(!), but the X-factor was at the FT line: the Huskies only made 1 (1-2 FTM) while the Pride only missed 1 (16-17 FTM). Hofstra used that FT advantage to clinch a 70-61 victory and their 1st trip to the NCAA tourney since 2001, although it was 1 of the most muted celebrations you will ever see with the court staying un-stormed:
A security guard prevented me from taking photos on the court so I just stood behind the Hofstra bench and got the following shots:
Happy band members:
Kante hugging everyone in sight:
Pemberton acknowledging the fans who did show up:
We got hats!
We got t-shirts!
Buie hugging his loved ones:
Kante trying to find a shirt that fits:
Buie sharing the special moment with his daughter Jada:
Still not sure whether she likes being the center of attention:
The Hofstra dance team discussing who will get to travel to the NCAA tourney next week:
The basketball team celebrating on the podium:
Coach Mihalich thanking the fans:
This is probably 1 of the best photos I have ever taken: Ray hoisting the trophy up high (and centered properly!), his teammates reminding everyone that they are the #1 seed, some signage in focus in the background…LOVE IT!
I cannot top that so that’s a wrap, hope you enjoyed it: on to the Madness!