CAA Men’s Basketball Recap – Feb. 12
Dylan Smith
Hofstra 66, Charleston 62
Box Score
Cruz Davis scored 23 points and German Plotnikov added 20 as Hofstra (17-9, 8-5 CAA) extended its winning streak to four with a 66-62 triumph at Charleston (16-10, 9-4 CAA). The Cougars got 14 points apiece from Colby Duggan and Chris Davis, Jr.
Neither team led by more than four through most of the opening half, but Hofstra closed the period with six straight points and took its largest lead, 37-30, into halftime after a Joshua DeCady dunk. Plotnikov had 17 of his 20 points in the first 20 minutes for the Pride.
A Silas Sunday tip-in put Hofstra ahead, 44-33, with 15:20 to play, but Charleston used a 9-1 run over the next three minutes, capped by a Davis, Jr. jumper, to pull within 45-42. The Pride pushed its lead back to 10 on a Davis jumper with 11:02 left before the Cougars battled back again, cutting the gap to 56-54 on a Christian Reeves layup at the 6:14 mark. The game remained tight down the stretch, but Hofstra never relinquished the lead as Davis scored his team’s final seven points.
William & Mary 94, Northeastern 67
Box Score
William & Mary (16-9, 7-6 CAA) shot a sizzling 54.7% from the floor, including 12-of-22 from three-point range, and rolled to a 94-67 victory at Northeastern (6-18, 2-11 CAA). Cade Haskins drained 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and scored a team-high 17 points for the Tribe, while Ryan Jackson, Jr. added 14 points off the bench. The Huskies got a team-high 24 points from Xavier Abreu, with 17 coming in the first half.
William & Mary made eight first-half treys, including four by Haskins, to build a 45-34 advantage at the break. Northeastern battled back in the second half, opening the period on an 11-2 run to close within 47-45 on a Youri Fritz short jumper with 15:31 to go. However, the Tribe regained the momentum with a 16-2 surge that included triples from Reese Miller, Jackson, Jr. and Haskins to go up 65-50 with 10:24 remaining. W&M didn’t let Northeastern get closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
Towson 69, Stony Brook 57
Box Score
Tyler Tejada poured in a career-high 33 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Towson (14-12, 6-7 in CAA) never trailed in a 69-57 triumph over Stony Brook (15-11, 7-6 CAA). Guard Dylan Williamson added 17 points and five assists for the Tigers. The Seawolves got 10 points apiece from Rob Brown III, Erik Pratt and Jonah Butler.
It was a one-point game midway through the first half before Towson went on an 8-2 run capped by back-to-back threes from Williamson and Ryan Conway to go up 20-13. The Tigers took a commanding 39-23 lead into halftime after Tejada, who scored 21 in the opening 20 minutes, closed the period with seven straight points. Towson extended the margin to 20 early in the second half. The Seawolves got as close as 11 (52-41) on a pair of Andrej Shoshkikj with 12:14 to go, but a Tejada jumper capped a 6-0 run and the Tigers kept a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
UNCW 65, Elon 54
Box Score
First-place UNCW (21-4, 10-2 CAA) used a balanced scoring effort and a strong defensive performance to defeat Elon (13-13, 5-8 CAA), 65-54. Four of the five Seahawks’ starters tallied double figures, led by Christian May with 15 points and Noah Ross with 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds. The Phoenix, who shot 34.5% from the floor and 5-of-26 from three, were paced by 12 points and seven rebounds from Isaac Harrell.
An early three-point play from Ja’Juan Carr gave Elon its only lead of the game before back-to-back threes from May and Nolan Hodge put UNCW up 10-3 in the opening three minutes. The Seahawks pushed their lead to 10 on a Jahnathan Lamothe triple and took a 33-24 advantage into halftime. UNCW maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, pushing the margin to 18 (52-34) on a Hodge dunk with 11:51 remaining. Hodge (11 points) and Patrick Wessler (10 points, 8 rebounds) also reached double figures.
Monmouth 93, Drexel 73
Box Score
Kavion McClain and Cornelius Robinson III scored 20 points apiece and Jason Rivera-Torres added 18 points and a team-high eight rebounds as Monmouth (13-12, 7-5 CAA) rolled to a 93-73 road win at Drexel (13-13, 7-6 CAA). Dillon Tingler came off the bench to tally a team-best 19 points in 17 minutes for the Dragons and Shane Blakeney chipped in 17 points.
Drexel jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead, but it was all Monmouth after that. The Hawks responded with 10 straight points, capped by a Rivera-Torres bucket to go up by five. Monmouth was ahead 21-14 when it reeled off 13 unanswered points over a six-minute stretch and went up 34-14 on a McClain stepback jumper. The Hawks went into halftime with a commanding 45-22 advantage. The Hawks pushed the margin to 27 early in the second half and never let the Dragons get closer than 15 over the final 20 minutes.