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 semifinal doubleheader on Monday.
The pregame dinner remained as delicious as ever: chicken/rice/pita/hummus. You can also tell that we have reached the semifinals because the crowds are noticeably larger/louder. Let’s tip it off!
GAME #1: Charleston-Towson
Towson SR F Charles Thompson was 5-5 during his 1st 2 games last weekend and he continued his offensive efficiency with 5 FG all around the rim in the 1st half. His teammate Dylan Williamson mixed it up a little more with a pair of threes and a pair of jumpers. Charleston F Frankie Policelli had a lot of success in this tourney in the past when he was at Stony Brook, and even after transferring to Charleston he has kept it going. He made an up-and-under move for a bank shot, had a STL/layup, and even knocked down a 3 in the 1st half. His new teammate Reyne Smith did not make a single shot from behind the arc on Sunday but bounced back in a big way with a trio of trifectas before halftime, but his most clutch shot was a turnaround jump shot in the lane with 1 second left to give his team a 31-30 lead at the break (fun fact: this is Towson’s 3rd straight game where it trailed by 1 PT at halftime!). I kept waiting for the Tigers to fall apart in the 2nd stanza, but FR Tyler Tejada was not hearing it. He only scored 6 PTS in each of his 2 prior games vs. Charleston, and only had 3 PTS in the 1st 20 minutes, but was unstoppable in the 2nd half with 13 PTS on jumper after jumper. When his teammate Christian May banked in a 3 with 4:12 to play to give his team a 55-48 lead (it largest of game) everyone thought that the Cougars were in trouble, but Pat Kelsey’s backcourt tandem of Kobe Rodgers/Bryce Butler started attacking the hoop and made several layups/scoops to help their team go on a 13-1 run to win it by the score of 61-56.
In the postgame press conference I asked Smith (who has lost exactly 1 conference tourney during his 3 years in Charleston) about the biggest difference between the regular season and the postseason. His response focused on competitiveness/physicality: he knew that they had to take this game and that no tourney game is easy:
I wondered if Coach Kelsey coached differently when he needed to pull off a comeback. He smiled and said that his team had only pressed on about 4 defensive possessions all year, but that it got them a big steal at a big moment so sometimes it is “better to be lucky than good”:
GAME #2: Stony Brook-Hofstra
I am sure that it was a great game (which it was, as it went down to the wire)…but the panel wanted me to join them for a podcast so that is a wrap for tonight, check back tomorrow for the title game featuring Charleston and Stony Brook.