2017-18 CAA Men's Basketball Final Report
Rob Washburn
CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL FINAL REPORT (PDF format)
CONFERENCE NOTES:
CHARLESTON FALLS TO AUBURN IN NCAA TOURNAMENT: Despite a game-high 24 points from Jarrell Brantley, 13th-seeded Charleston dropped a 62-58 decision to #4 Auburn in the first round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship in San Diego. After trailing much of the game, the Cougars took a 55-53 lead on a 3-pointer by Marquise Pointer with 3:11 to play. Down 61-58 in the final seconds, CofC had a game-tying 3-pointer come up short. Grant Riller added 16 points for the Cougars. CofC shot 45.1% from the floor and limited Auburn to 35.6% shooting, but was hurt by a season-high 21 turnovers. It was the fifth NCAA Tournament apperance for Charleston, but first since 1999.
ALL-DISTRICT HONORS: Northeastern guard Vasa Pusica was chosen to the USBWA All-District I team. Pusica also made the NABC All-District 10 first team along with Charleston’s Jarrell Brantley and Joe Chealey, UNCW’s Devontae Cacok and Hofstra’s Justin Wright-Foreman. Making the NABC second team were Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys, W&M’s Nathan Knight, Charleston’s Grant Riller, Towson’s Zane Martin and Elon’s Tyler Seibring. Northeatern’s Bill Coen was the NABC District 10 Coach of the Year.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Hofstra guard Justin Wright-Foreman received honorable mention on the Associated Press All-America team. Charleston guards Joe Chealey and Grant Riller, William & Mary forward Nathan Knight and Northeastern guard Vasa Pusica were recognized on the Lou Henson Mid-Major All-America team. UNCW forward Devontae Cacok was chosen to the MidMajorMadness.com All-America third team.
CAA SHINES IN SAN ANTONIO: It was successful week in San Antonio for several CAA seniors. William & Mary’s Connor Burchfield beat seven other competitors to capture the Great Clips Men’s 3-Point Championship. Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the Reese’s NABC College All-Star Game. The CAA team of Gustys, William & Mary’s David Cohn, Charleston’s Joe Chealey and Towson’s Mike Morsell went 2-1 in the Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship.
CHARLESTON RALLIES TO WIN FIRST CAA CHAMPIONSHIP: Top-seeded Charleston rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit and defeated #2 Northeastern, 83-76 in overtime, to capture its first CAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The Cougars trailed 44-27 with 16:35 left and were down five with 40 seconds to go, but Joe Chealey made three free throws and then a game-tying layup with 10 seconds remaining to force the extra session. Marquise Pointer nailed a pair of threes in OT and Chealey was 6-of-6 at the line to cap a 32-point performance. Grant Riller added 20 points for the Cougars and Jarrell Brantley recorded his third straight double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Northeastern, which had its nine-game winning streak come to an end, got a team-high 30 points from Vasa Pusica and 19 points from Shawn Occeus. The duo combined to make 10 three-pointers.
SUCCESS OF THE #1 SEEDS: The #1 seed reached the CAA championship game for the 30th time in 36 years and claimed the title for the 20th time. It was the 14th time overall and the third year in a row that the #1 and #2 seeds met in the finals.
RILLER LEADS ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM: Charleston sophomore guard Grant Riller was named the Most Outstanding Player at the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship after averaging 20.7 ppg over the three games. He was joined on the all-tournament team by CofC teammates Joe Chealey and Jarrell Brantley as well as Northeastern guards Vasa Pusica and Shawn Occeus and William & Mary forward Nathan Knight.
TOURNAMENT RECORDS: Charleston’s Joe Chealey set CAA Tournament records for free throws made and FT% by going 16-for-16 at the line in the championship game win over Northeastern. UNCW’s Jordon Talley tied the tournament record for points in a game with a career-high 37 in the Seahawks’ quarterfinal victory over Hofstra.
CHARLESTON, NORTHEASTERN SHARE CAA REGULAR-SEASON TITLE: Charleston and Northeastern shared the CAA regular-season title after both finished the year with 14-4 conference records. It’s the first CAA title for the Cougars and the third in the past six years for the Huskies, who also finished first in 2012-13 and 2014-15.
INCREDIBLE BALANCE: For the first time in CAA history, every team recorded at least six conference wins. The CAA and Missouri Valley were the only conferences nationally to have all teams with at least six league victories this season.
WRIGHT-FOREMAN HEADLINES ALL-CAA TEAM: Hofstra junior guard Justin Wright-Foreman, who ranks fifth nationally in scoring with 24.4 ppg, was selected as the CAA men’s basketball Player of the Year. Other major award winners include Northeastern’s Bill Coen as CAA Coach of the Year, Delaware guard Ryan Allen as Rookie of the Year, Northeastern guard Shawn Occeus as Defensive Player of the Year and Northeastern guard Bolden Brace as Sixth Man of the Year. Elon forward Tyler Seibring was chosen as the recipient of the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award and William & Mary forward Paul Rowley was selected as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
GUSTYS, CACOK CLIMB REBOUND CHARTS: Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys and UNCW’s Devontae Cacok put their names in the CAA record book. Gustys finished with 1,305 career rebounds, which was nine behind Navy Hall of Famer David Robinson’s CAA career rebound record of 1,314. Cacok broke the UNCW mark for rebounds in a season with 431, which is the 3rd-highest season mark in CAA history. Cacok’s 13.5 per game rebound average this season broke the CAA record of 13.0 rpg shared by Gustys (2015-16) and Robinson (1985-86).
PILING UP THE WINS: Charleston reached the 20-win mark in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2009-10/2010-11 and tied its record for CAA wins in a season set last year. Northeastern tied its record for CAA wins in a season and reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2014-15. Hofstra reached double-digit wins in CAA play for the third time in the past four years. William & Mary recorded double-digit CAA wins for the fifth straight season.
CAA GAMES MEAN CLOSE GAMES: Conference play brought plenty of down-to-the-wire finishes. Nine of the league’s 10 teams had at least one conference game go into overtime, with UNCW and James Madison having four and Charleston, Towson and William & Mary each playing in three. Of the 90 CAA games played, 12 went to overtime and 35 others were decided by six points or less.
THREE TEAMS IN TOP 93 OF RPI: Three CAA teams were ranked in the top 92 of the final NCAA RPI. Northeastern led the way at #58, followed by Charleston at #61, and William & Mary at #92. The CAA was ranked 12th out of the nation’s 32 Division I conferences.
HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Home teams were 55-35 (.611) in CAA play, but Charleston (9-0) was the only squad that finished unbeaten. Northeastern (7-2), Hofstra (6-3), Charleston (5-4) and William & Mary (5-4) were the only teams with winning records on the road. For the season, CAA teams were a combined 94-43 at home.
LIGHTING UP THE SCOREBOARD: Offenses took center stage in conference play. Over 90 league games, the winning team scored at least 80 points in 55 of them. Seven squads averaged 77.0 ppg or more in CAA action. Shooting percentages were impressive as well. Five teams shot better than 47% from the floor, four hit at least 37.8% from 3-point range, and seven squads shot at least 71% from the free throw line in conference play.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Young players made a big impact in the CAA. There were six sophomores, one freshman and only two seniors among the CAA’s top 15 scorers, and there were just three seniors among the CAA’s top 10 in rebounding.
UNCW’S CACOK LEADS NATION IN REBOUNDING: UNCW’s Devontae Cacok led the nation in rebounding (13.5 rpg) this season and Hofstra’s Rokas Gustys ranked 3rd (12.0 rpg). Cacok, who grabbed at least 10 rebounds in 23 of 32 games, was also 3rd in the nation with 22 double-doubles.
W&M’S BURCHFIELD SETS THREE-POINT MARKS: William & Mary senior Connor Burchfield shot 52% from 3-point range this season, which led the nation and set a new CAA record. He also set a new conference mark for career 3-point percentage at 50.7%.
WRIGHT-FOREMAN EXTENDS SCORING STREAK: Hofstra junior Justin Wright-Foreman, who led the CAA and ranked fifth in the nation in scoring with 24.4 ppg, finished the season on a 53-game double-digit scoring streak. The streak is the fourth-longest active streak in the nation. Wright-Foreman scored 20 or more points 24 times this season and topped the 30-point mark in seven games. He’s the first player since Towson’s Gary Neal in 2007 to score 35 or more points in three CAA games in a season. Wright-Foreman’s 755 points this season were the 7th-most in CAA history and his scoring average was the highest by a CAA player since 2006-07.
HISTORIC SHOOTING SEASON FOR W&M: William & Mary was the top shooting team in the nation this season. The Tribe led the nation in 3-point FG percentage (43.4%) and free throw percentage (81.0%), and ranked 2nd in field goal percentage (51.1%), 7th in 3-pointers per game (10.9) and 5th in scoring (85.0 ppg). W&M was the first team in NCAA history to shoot better than 50% from the floor, 40% from 3-point range and 80% from the free throw line in a season.
DREXEL RECORDS LARGEST COMEBACK IN NCAA HISTORY: Drexel recorded the largest comeback in NCAA Division I history on Feb. 22 as it overcame a 34-point deficit to defeat Delaware, 85-83. The Dragons trailed 53-19 with 2:36 left in the first half before rallying to tie game at 78-78 with 3:50 to go. The game was still tied at 83 when Tramaine Isabell was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 2.2 seconds remaining and hit two free throws. Isabell finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists. The previous record for the largest comeback was 32 points by Duke against Tulane in 1950.
CAA PLAYERS RECEIVE ACADEMIC HONORS: Elon junior Tyler Seibring was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America first team. He was a third-team All-American last year and is Elon’s first repeat selection since becoming a Division I program in 1999. Seibring and William & Mary junior Paul Rowley were chosen to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 team. Hofstra senior Rokas Gustys and Charleston senior Evan Bailey were chosen to the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team.
COHN BECOMES W&M CAREER ASSISTS LEADER: David Cohn became William & Mary’s career assists leader with 490, surpassing the previous mark of 409 set by Scott Coval (1983-86). Cohn, who led the CAA with 6.7 apg and 207 total assists, also broke Coval’s single-season record of 168 assists set in 1985.
NORTHEASTERN SETS SHOOTING MARK: Northeastern shot a remarkable 71.4% from the floor in its 90-70 victory at William & Mary on Jan. 18. The field goal percentage was the 4th-best mark in CAA history and was the best by any conference team since 1986. NU also matched the highest percentage of any Division I team in the nation this season.
SUCCESS IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: CAA teams finished with a 68-57 record against non-conference teams. Seven of the league’s 10 teams had winning records in non-conference action.
CHARLESTON, NORTHEASTERN RANKED IN MID-MAJOR POLL: Charleston was ranked #9 and Northeastern was ranked #19 in the final CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. William & Mary was among others receiving votes.