CAA Men’s Basketball Recap – Jan. 3
Dylan Smith
Campbell 97, Northeastern 82
Box Score
All five Campbell (8-8, 2-1 CAA) starters scored in double figures, led by a career-high 31 points from DJ Smith, to lift the Camels to a 97-82 win over Northeastern (5-9, 1-2 CAA). Campbell’s leading scorer eclipsed the 20-point threshold for the ninth time of the season, going 10-for-17 from the floor with three treys and an 8-of-9 showing from the line. Big man Dovydas Butka recorded his third straight double-double and sixth overall with a 15-point, 14-rebound effort. Tasos Cook and Jeremiah Johnson matched Butka in points, while Muneer Newton logged 12 points and seven boards. The Camels scored 56 points in the paint and added 23 points off turnovers.
Campbell’s Smith began the game scoring 11 of the team’s first 15 points, but his efforts were quickly matched by a nine-point start from Northeastern’s Ty Francis through the opening eight minutes. Buies Creek turned into dunk city as the Camels’ Newton slammed down three consecutive buckets before a Smith putback finish gave Campbell a 21-14 lead just past the midway point of the opening stanza. The Camels expanded their lead to as many as 16 behind 13 unanswered points, part of a 21-10 run that saw seven straight makes from the floor to end the half, putting Campbell ahead, 49-36, at the intermission.
Northeastern’s Mike Loughnane helped his team work its deficit down to seven, 55-48, just 3:20 into the second stanza with back-to-back finishes in close. The Huskies’ guard finished with a career-high 23 points on the afternoon, going 10-of-15 overall and 3-of-6 from distance. Campbell quickly responded with six consecutive points, watching Tasos Cook cap off the spurt with an acrobatic floater to bump the advantage back to double digits, 61-48, less than two minutes later. Despite seeing the Huskies battle back down to a seven-point deficit on three occasions, including two times on a William Kermoury triple, the Camels proved to be too much down the stretch. Campbell closed the game on a 12-4 run to pick up the 15-point victory. Kermoury added 16 points for the Huskies, with four of his five makes falling from distance. Northeastern’s Francis and Luca Soroa Schaller added 13 points apiece.
Hofstra 70, Drexel 67
Box Score
Hofstra (11-4, 2-0 CAA) staved off a late second-half surge to secure a 70-67 win at Drexel (6-10, 0-3 CAA). Junior guard Cruz Davis notched 20 points, six boards and five helpers in the win. Freshman Preston Edmead also joined Davis in double figures with 16 points, seeing four of his six makes come from behind the arc and adding six rebounds and three assists. Saturday’s win marked the sixth consecutive win for the Pride. Hofstra is also 6-1 this season in the state of Pennsylvania.
Five of Hofstra’s first eight makes from the floor came from distance to open the game, including three from Edmead to help the Pride to an early 21-11 lead with 10:37 left in the first half. Hofstra continued to add to its total as Victory Onuetu knocked down a pair of shots in close to spark a 10-2 run and put his team ahead, 35-19, with under five minutes to play. The Pride carried a 40-25 lead into halftime following a triple from Davis and a late finish at the rim from Silas Sunday.
Drexel stormed back to pull within two, 44-42, after going on a 17-4 run and forcing the Pride to miss its first nine shots of the second frame. The Dragons’ Kevon Vanderhorst registered seven points on the run that helped the home team rally to a one-possession game. Hofstra countered with a 16-6 spurt, watching AJ Wills and Edmead knock down back-to-back treys before German Plotnikov completed a three-point play to put the Pride back ahead by double digits, 60-48, with 6:29 to play. Drexel did not go down quietly as the Dragons rattled off a 16-4 run, seeing Shane Blakeney draw contact and completing the and-one before an Eli Beard corner triple made it a 68-67 game with 16 seconds to play. After a pair of made free throws from Wills, Plotnikov came up with a key block on Drexel’s final possession to secure the three-point win. Blakeney finished with 18 points and four boards, while Beard knocked down three 3-pointers en route to 12 points.
Stony Brook 81, N.C. A&T 80
Box Score
Freshman Andrej Shoshkikj put forth an incredible shooting performance en route to a 27-point showing, helping lift Stony Brook (9-7, 1-2 CAA) to an 81-80 win over North Carolina A&T (7-7, 0-3 CAA). The Seawolves’ top scorer on Saturday went 9-for-10 from the floor, 5-of-5 from distance and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, while adding six assists. Erik Pratt also eclipsed the 20-point threshold with 23 points of his own, logging three helpers, two boards and a pair of steals.
The two teams traded blows until N.C. A&T utilized back-to-back triples from Zamora Weluche-Ume and Dwayne Pierce to jumpstart an 8-0 run and take a 14-7 edge. Stony Brook quickly retaliated with 10 unanswered points to go up by three, 17-14, with 12:02 to play in the first half. The Seawolves and the Aggies went off from distance, logging 12 of the half’s 16 combined 3-pointers over the final 12 minutes of the stanza. Stony Brook’s Rob Brown III drained a triple to close a 12-2 run inside the final three minutes that helped the Seawolves notch a 50-39 lead at halftime. Brown went on to finish with 11 points, sinking three of his four shots from behind the arc.
Stony Brook maintained a double-digit advantage until the Aggies rattled off eight straight points as Amadou Doumbia capped off the spurt with a slam to bring A&T to within seven, 60-53, with 13:38 remaining in regulation. North Carolina A&T slashed its deficit to as few as three, 64-61, until Stony Brook’s Shoshkikj sank a triple from the wing in an attempt to halt the Aggies’ run. N.C. A&T eventually tied the game at 67 with 8:04 remaining after four straight points from Lewis Walker finished off a 24-9 stretch. The back-and-forth affair continued as the Aggies nearly erased a late seven-point lead with under three minutes to go. It was Stony Brook’s Shoshkikj again that came up with a pair of late free throws and a defensive stop on the final possession to secure the one-point win. Four players finished in double figures for the Aggies, led by a 16-point, eight-rebound effort from Walker. Pierce (15 pts.), Weluche-Ume (14 pts.) and KJ Debrick (11 pts.) also finished in double figures.
Monmouth 62, Towson 48
Box Score
Monmouth (7-8, 1-1 CAA) snapped Towson’s 16-game home winning streak with a 62-48 victory inside SECU Arena. Jason Rivera-Torres registered 21 points, six boards and four assists across 39 minutes of work. Andrew Ball scored all 12 of his points in the second half, going 4-for-4 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line to go with eight boards in reserve. Stefanos Spartalis notched a 10-point effort on 5-of-7 shooting. The Hawks picked up their first road win over the Tigers (8-8, 0-3 CAA) since 2021.
After Towson jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening minute, Monmouth flipped the momentum in its favor. The Hawks’ Spartalis helped retaliate with eight points and a perfect 4-for-4 showing from the floor to spark a 19-5 run that put the Hawks ahead by as many as nine at the midway point of the opening frame. Monmouth continued to maintain a two-possession lead or better until the Tigers closed the half with five unanswered points to pull within three, 25-22, at the break. The Hawks also kept Preseason All-CAA selections Tyler Tejada and Dylan Williamson to a combined seven points on 3-of-6 shooting in the first half.
Much like the opening frame, Towson scored the first six points of the second half, only for Monmouth to counter once again. The Hawks rattled off 15 straight points to take a 40-28 lead, watching Andrew Ball finish the stretch with a putback, two-handed slam with 12:13 to play. The redshirt junior continued to orchestrate Monmouth’s 23-6 run by totaling 12 points, personally, on the stretch to put the visitors ahead, 48-34, past the midway point of the second half. The Hawks continued to hold a double-digit advantage through the rest of the half and sank nine free throws over the final three minutes before locking in a 14-point win on Saturday. Towson’s Williamson and Jaquan Womack both scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points apiece, respectively.
UNCW 49, Hampton 45
Box Score
Redshirt junior forward Patrick Wessler went off for 19 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks to help UNCW (14-2, 3-0 CAA) secure a 49-45 win over Hampton (8-8, 2-1 CAA). Wessler became the first NCAA Division I player this season to produce at least 19 points, 14 boards and six blocks in a single game. UNCW’s big man also logged his league-leading seventh double-double of the year. The Seahawks and the Pirates became the first set of teams to score under 50 points in the same regular-season CAA game since Feb. 11, 2016, when Northeastern downed Towson, 47-44.
The Seahawks flew out to a 12-2 lead through the opening 4:30 after Wessler registered six points inside the arc, and the tandem of Hodge and Ross both connected from distance. Hampton rallied back into the contest with 12 unanswered points, seeing Elijah Kennedy cap the stretch with a finish at the rim to put the Pirates up two, 14-12, with 10:24 remaining. It was all UNCW on the way to halftime as the Seahawks went off on a 15-4 run to close the frame and secure a 27-18 lead at the intermission.
Hampton’s Etienne Strothers guided his team out to a 10-0 run to open the second half, knocking down a pair of triples and finishing at the rim to help the Pirates take a 28-27 lead just 2:30 into the frame. The Seahawks’ Wessler scored the team’s first eight points of the half to keep pace and deadlock the score at 35 with 10:50 to play. UNCW took over for the final 10:02 of the contest, starting with nine unanswered points to go up seven, 46-39, with 7:05 remaining. The Pirates did not go quietly as they got to within three behind back-to-back finishes in close from Strothers and Kennedy, but the Seahawks staved off the surge to secure the four-point triumph. Strother and Johnson produced 12 and 10 points apiece, respectively.