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 is covering all the angles so you can look forward to an abundance of articles in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from DC with a recap of the 2nd round quadruple-header on Saturday.
GAME #1: Campbell-Stony Brook
Solid pregame lunch: buffalo chicken wrap/potato chips/chocolate chip cookie/apple/lemonade. Let’s tip off the 2nd round quadrupleheader:
Stony Brook had a well-balanced offense in the opening stanza with 3 different guys scoring 11+ PTS. Andrej Shoshkikj made a trio of threes, Rob Brown III made a pair of his own, and Erik Pratt did most of his damage in the paint with a scoop, a REB/putback, and a drive/floater/&1. Campbell F Muneer Newton was unstoppable in the 1st half…literally: 3 layups + 2 dunks + a baby hook = 12 PTS on 6-6 FG. Not bad for a guy who had not scored double-digits in an entire game since January! His teammate Dovydas Butka also made a few shots inside, but spent much of his time running the offense: his 7 AST in the 1st half tied his career-high for an entire game as he helped the Camels coast into halftime with a 48-40 lead.
Campbell extended its lead midway through the half 2nd to 75-59, but the Seawolves law firm of Shoshkikj, Brown, & Pratt brought them back to within striking distance in the final few minutes. However, due to shooting a ridiculous 62.8 FG% and having a more ridiculous 56-23 FTA advantage, the Camels were able to make enough shots to avoid the total collapse and win it 96-89.
In the postgame press conference, I wondered how Campbell G Jeremiah Johnson was able to make 12 FTs today after making just 7 FTs combined in his previous 4 games. He said that he just tried to put pressure on the rim, and then would either kick it out or get fouled.
I asked Campbell 1st-year coach John Andrzejek about his personal 15-game neutral site winning streak over the past 15 months (with most of them occurring last season as an assistant to Todd Golden at Florida). He joked that he did it all himself, then admitted that it was mainly due to having players like Walter Clayton Jr.:
I asked Stony Brook coach Geno Ford if Shoshkikj’s postseason performance (35 PTS/4 STL/10-10 FT) was the greatest by a freshman that he had ever seen. He confirmed that Andrej does not tend to play like a freshman: his home/road stats were wildly different until January, then he hit another level of production. He is 1 of the best shooters they have ever had and 1 of the top guards in the league. He stood out as the best player on the floor today and has been special all year:
GAME #2: Northeastern-Drexel
Let’s tip off the 2nd game of today’s quadrupleheader:
We almost had a mascot fight in the stands…which would have been awesome!
Northeastern G Mike Loughnane scored 18 PTS in Friday’s win over North Carolina A&T, and stayed hot in the 1st half of today’s game with a 3 and a pair of jumpers, but a rested Drexel team was just too much Philly Pride to handle. PF Victor Panov is 6’7″/230 but looked like a lithe SG as he made 4 shots from behind the arc in the 1st half to give his team a comfortable 39-22 lead at halftime. Northeastern kept pressing and driving to the basket in the 2nd half while scoring an astounding 55 PTS after intermission (Loughnane finished with 29 PTS on his own), but it was just not enough as Drexel hung on for dear life to win it 84-77.
In the postgame press conference I wondered how Eli Beard had the confidence to make 13 FTs today considering he had only made 12 FTs since New Year’s Eve. He said it was the most FTs that he has ever taken in 1 game, but that he has been working on it in the gym all week. He just tries to take himself to a place where he is comfortable and knock them down for his team.
I asked Panov how he became a great 3-PT shooter this year after being a below-average 3-PT shooter in the past. He said “God”, but also admitted that he spent a lot of time in the gym, and that the biggest adjustment for him was mental in terms of staying confident whether his shot goes in or not.
I rolled the dice with Northeastern coach Bill Coen, who will turn 65 in May and whose legacy is secure as the winningest coach in CAA history, to see if he would share any thoughts about his future. He thought it is way too soon to worry about that. He has been fortunate to work for great people at great institutions and do what he loves, but knows that someday it will come to an end: he will have exit meetings with his players in the near-future and then talk to his administration. Northeastern has been very good to him and allowed him to stay in a situation that aligns with his personal values: it offers a world-class education that has been transformative to his student-athletes, so he is honored to have worked there for so long:
GAME #3: Hampton-Towson
Solid pregame dinner: ground turkey/guacamole/cheese/tortilla strips/corn/chocolate chip cookie/lemonade. Let’s tip off the 3rd game of today’s quadrupleheader:
The 1st half was all Towson all the time. Tyler Tejada mad a bunch of layups/jump shots to finish the half with 12 PTS (almost outscoring the entire Hampton team by himself), while Dylan Williamson showed off the entire arsenal with a 3, a floater in the lane, a spin/scoop while falling down, and a step-back J to help give the Tigers a 30-17 halftime lead.
Towson extended its lead to 63-40 in the 2nd half, so I assumed that that was that…and then Hampton G Michael Eley (who went scoreless in the 1st half) went berserk and scored 23 PTS in just 11 minutes of action to give his team a chance and the fans some hope. However, Tejada/Williamson saved the day by combining for 55 PTS as Towson avoided disaster by coming away with a 74-68 victory.
In the postgame press conference I asked Towson coach Pat Skerry about Eley’s performance. He was unhappy that the final 4 minutes featured some bad execution and mind-numbing plays mentally. It is not good to know they are still there because they came back tonight.
Eley had scored 43 PTS in 30 minutes vs. Campbell 2 months ago, and after his Kobe-esque effort tonight against a top-25-in-the-nation scoring defense, I wondered if he was just 1 of those guys who sometimes gets “into the zone” where he feels like every shot is going in. He claimed that the biggest thing is that he did not force things in the 1st half and then the ball just came his way in the 2nd half:
GAME #4: William & Mary-Elon
I am sure that it was a fun game…but quadruple-headers are a young man’s game. That is a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the quarterfinal quadruple-header as the top seeds finally take the court.
