Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament is taking place in Washington, DC, this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD will be covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel keeps things going with a recap of the quarterfinal quadruple-header on Sunday.
The pregame meal was great: make-your-own cheeseburger/chips/granola bar/lemonade. Let’s tip off a LONG day of games:
GAME #1: William & Mary vs. Hofstra
It appears that if the CAA wants a competitive tourney game then I am not the best person to give a credential. William & Mary could not buy a bucket early and fell into a 36-6(!) hole after the 1st 14 minutes. Hofstra G/conference POY Aaron Estrada showed everyone why he deserved such an award with a little of everything in the 1st half: 14 PTS/8 REB (career-high is 10)/2 AST/1 BLK/1 STL/0 TO. The Pride led 51-14 at halftime…and to be honest it did not even seem THAT close. The 2nd half did not go much better as Estrada got some help from his SR backcourt mate Tyler Thomas, who scored 10 PTS on 2-2 FG from 2-PT range and 2-2 FG from 3-PT range. The cherry on top was FR Aiden Best converting a not-so-old-fashioned 4-PT play with 30 seconds left to close out a 94-46 victory for the largest margin of victory in the history of this tourney. In the postgame press conference I asked Hofstra PG Jaquan Carlos how he was able to get back on track after only making 1-9 3PM during his past 4 games. He said that he has just been getting a lot of shots up in practice. His coaches told him that if he misses a shot to not look to the bench but just to keep shooting, which increases his confidence.
GAME #2: Drexel vs. UNC-Wilmington
I had very high hopes for this 1 being a close game, as these 2 teams played a 1-PT double-OT contest last month, and it did not disappoint in the 1st half. The good news was that this 4 vs. 5 game lived up to the hype as Drexel led 38-34 at halftime. The bad news is that Drexel JR Yame Butler hurt his ankle early in the game and a few minutes later was limping to the locker room on crutches with his right foot in a boot:
The 2nd half involved a series of runs by each team. Drexel SR Coletrane Washington made a pair of threes to help gave his team a 57-45 lead with under 13 minutes to play. Instead of folding, UNCW responded with an incredible 16-0 run capped off by a 3 from JR Donovan Newby to give his team a 61-57 lead. The Seahawks’ surprise star was the hot hand of JR Nick Farrar, who had only scored 15 PTS combined in his past 3 games. He made almost everything in the 2nd stanza from both behind the arc and at the rim, finishing the game with 19 PTS/8-10 FG in just 16 minutes of action. Drexel cut the lead to 71-68 with 40 seconds left but could not get any closer as FR Justin Moore missed the potential game-tying 3 from the top of the key with 5 seconds left as UNCW hung on for the 73-68 win. In the postgame press conference I asked Nick if this was the 1st time all year that he received his team’s “Toughness Chain”. He confirmed that this was indeed the 1st time he got it and that he was proud to have competed hard in the most important game of the year.
GAME #3: Stony Brook vs. Charleston
Another delicious pregame meal: spaghetti/meatballs/chicken parmesan/broccoli/tiramisu/lemonade! 1 of the most interested spectators: Charleston coach Pat Kelsey’s son Johnny, who observed the pregame shootaround from the front row:
We had yet another CAA tourney early blowout, as Charleston led 22-2 after 7 minutes thanks to the Cougars making 6-7 FG to begin the festivities while the Seawolves made just 1-6. Stony Brook big man had a big 1st half with 11 PTS on 5-10 FG (including an honest-to-God skyhook!) but Charleston grabbed 25 REB and did not miss a single FT as they coasted into halftime with a 42-26 lead. The Cougars got a big 2nd half performance from big man Ante Brzovic (13 PTS/5-8 FG) as they won handily 74-52. Charleston tied its school record for most wins in 1 season with 29, which had stood for 26 years since their old days in the Trans America Athletic Conference. In the postgame press conference I tried to convince Coach Pat Kelsey to start considering whether his squad is 1 of the best in school/conference history. He declined the bait and said that is for another time in the months ahead, maybe when he is “on a beach with my wife drinking a cold Corona”. The name that did come to his mind was John Kresse, who is an institution at Charleston, so just to be mentioned in the same sentence as 1 of his teams is a huge honor.
GAME #4: Delaware vs. Towson
I am sure that it was an enjoyable game…for people who had not spent the past 10 hours at the arena! That is a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the semifinal doubleheader.