Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament is taking place this weekend in Washington, DC, and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD will be covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of articles in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage with a recap of the 2nd round quadruple-header on Saturday.
Much like the rainy weather outside, the food selections today were a bit dreary. Flatbread pizzas for lunch were too much bread/not enough toppings, and while hot dog/burger for dinner was fine they ran out of dessert. Let’s tip it off:
GAME #1: Campbell-Monmouth
The Camels built a very early 17-8 lead and then Monmouth went on a very big run to take a 46-31 halftime lead thanks to the outside shooting of Abdi Bashir/Jack Collins and the inside shooting of Klemen Vuga (whose name must be Slovenian for “layup machine”. Campbell star G Anthony Dell’Orso tried to bring his team back in the 2nd half by knocking down several shots but the Hawks just had too much depth on offense (with 6 different players finishing in double-figures) as Monmouth won 90-67 and will face Charleston on Sunday afternoon. I missed the postgame press conference to complete a pair of interviews: you’re welcome.
GAME #2: William & Mary-Towson
I did not think the Tribe would have anything left in the tank after their quick turnaround but they looked great in the 1st 20 minutes. JR Gabe Dorsey did what he always does (make threes) and SO Chase Lowe continued his whale of a weekend by converting several layups. Most of Towson’s starters could not make a shot to save their lives but Nendah Tarke picked up the slack with a layup/jumper/floater in the lane, and Tomiwa Sulaiman subbed in to make a pair of 3-PT shots but William & Mary was still able to hang on for a 30-29 halftime lead. Tigers SR leader Charles Thompson saved the season in the 2nd half with several layups/jump shots as Towson won 67-56 and will play UNCW on Sunday afternoon.
I usually just try to summarize what the coach said in the postgame press conference…but Towson coach Pat Skerry is not your usual coach, which is why he answered my question by talking about HoopsHD with this stare in my direction:
You can see it all for yourself starting with my question at the 1:25 mark: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRSYXrq07jM
GAME #3: Northeastern-Stony Brook
I knew that it was going to be a weird game after the 1st 12 seconds when Stony Brook G Tyler Stephenson-Moore: banked in a 3. Several minutes later his backcourt mate Aaron Clarke made a 3 to beat the shot-clock/got fouled/made the FT to complete the 4-PT play. Meanwhile, their fellow G Dean Noll made a ton of jump shots but the prettiest of all was a behind-the-back dribble leading to a step-back 3 from the top of the key. The good news for the Seawolves is that their guard play was good enough for a 35-29 halftime lead. The possible bad news is that their band/cheerleaders missed their great performance because they did not show up until halftime: would they jinx everything in the 2nd stanza?! Not so much, as the 3-headed monster mentioned above kept on scoring and almost combined to outscore the Huskies themselves (63 PTS on 9-20 3PM) as Stony Brook won it 75-65 and will play Drexel on Sunday night.
In the postgame press conference I asked Noll how it felt to finally win a postseason game: he has been playing college basketball since 2018 but his only 2 postseason appearances while at Cornell were a loss at Robert Morris in the 2019 CIT and a loss to Princeton in the 2022 Ivy tourney semifinals. He smiled and admitted that it felt great, and he is looking forward to playing again tomorrow so he can hopefully have the same feeling:
GAME #4: Hampton-Delaware
I am sure that it was a great game…but after attending 5 games in 30 hours I am calling it a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the quarterfinal quadruple-header as the top seeds finally take the court.