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 semifinal doubleheader on Monday.
The pregame meal was great: lemon rice/Mediterranean chicken/tomatoes/hummus/cheesecake/lemonade!
Let’s tip off a not-as-long day of games:
GAME #1: UNC-Wilmington vs. Hofstra
Hofstra won their only previous meeting this season by 24 PTS on January 19th so I was worried about witnessing yet another blowout. Hofstra SR Tyler Thomas dominated the 1st game with 28 PTS/3-6 3PM and had a solid 1st half tonight with 8 PTS/2-4 3PM. The star of the show, as you might have guessed, was his teammate Aaron Estrada (who was named conference POY a few days ago), who had 3 AST and scored 13 PTS in the 1st 20 minutes on a pair of layups and a trio of 3-PT shots. However, UNC-Wilmington did not back down from a double-digit deficit and even took a 42-41 lead right before halftime. It was a great team effort with 4 different Seahawks each scoring 7-10 PTS. Hofstra went into the break with a 43-42 lead and I had no idea what the final outcome would be.
The 2nd half was back-and-forth with the lead constantly changing hands and each team knocking down shot after shot. UNC-Wilmington SO Trazarien White only scored 3 PTS in the 1st matchup but was able to get to the FT line a ton tonight as he scored 21 PTS with 10 REB and 8-12 FTs.
Estrada did not get to the FT line during regulation but that did not prevent him from scoring 25 PTS of his own. It went down to the wire as Hofstra trailed 71-68 with 20 seconds left and Thomas was fouled while missing a corner 3: he made 3 clutch FTs to tie it at 71-all. The Seahawks missed 2 shots in the final seconds and we are headed to OT!
The overtime period was pretty sloppy with plenty of airballs/bad passes/exhausted players. White fouled out with 1:44 left while guarding Estrada (who played all 45 minutes), forcing Seahawks coach Takayo Siddle to look elsewhere for offense. JR Nick Farrar was 0-3 from the field in the 2nd half but came up big in OT with a spin into the lane before flipping in a lefty hook to give his team a 76-73 lead with 30 seconds left. The Towson/Charleston players got tired of sitting in their locker rooms so they came out to watch the end of the game with everyone else. The Pride missed a couple of long-range shots as the Seahawks pulled off the 79-73 upset and are now 1 win away from their 1st tourney title since 2017.
In the postgame press conference I asked Coach Siddle about his team’s ability to not waver. UNCW entered this tourney 1-6 this year when trailing at halftime, but they have now won back-to-back games despite trailing by 4 PTS to Drexel and 1 PT to Hofstra. He said it is all about learning something whether you win or lose. He told his guys, and they probably get tired of hearing it, but they have to get better from their mistakes and keep doing what they did well and with more force. Those losses prepared his team for this moment.
GAME #2: Towson vs. Charleston
I am sure that it was an enjoyable game…for people who do not need to join a podcast! Don’t believe me?
That is a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the title game featuring UNC-Wilmington and Charleston.