Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, parents, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament tips off 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 week ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage with a recap of the semifinal doubleheader on Monday.
GAME #1: Campbell-Monmouth
Solid pregame dinner: chicken/veggies/meatballs/pita bread/hummus/lemon cake/lemonade.
Let’s tip off the 1st game of the semifinal doubleheader:
Both teams came out ice-cold, shooting a combined 5-21 through the 1st 7 minutes. Campbell G Jeremiah Johnson made a trio of layups and a 3-PT shot to keep his team in it, but they dug themsevles a huge hole by somehow committing 15(!) TO during the 1st 20 minutes. Monmouth big men Stefanos Spartalis/Andrew Ball combined for 17 PTS (all in the paint) to give their team a 30-24 lead going into intermission.
In the 2nd half the Camels could not make a 3 to save their life (0-11 3PM until the final minute of action), while Monmouth guards Justin Ray/Kavion McClain combined for 26 PTS in the final 20 minutes as the Hawks hung on for a 74-64 victory.
In the postgame press conference I asked Monmouth coach King Rice what his own college coach (Hall of Famer Dean Smith) taught him about what it takes to win a conference tourney title game (King won 2 against his archrival Duke as a player for UNC in 1989/1991). He said that so many people are pulling for him to win it tomorrow. He did not think it would take that long, but maybe he did not win 1 before because he was too cocky, and the Lord does not make any mistakes. The biggest difference between the 2 is that Coach Smith did not curse (King does!). Smith would say that nobody will give you the title, you have to go take it. If you tippy-toe around it then your opponent will snatch it from you:
GAME #2: Towson-Hofstra
I am sure that it was a fun game, but weeknight double-headers are a young man’s game and I had a podcast to do. At least I did not miss anything…right…RIGHT?!
https://x.com/NCAABuzzerBters/status/2031207467988955629?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
That is a wrap for tonight, check back tomorrow night for the title game between Monmouth and Hofstra!
