Men's #CAAHoops Recap: Dec. 30
Bill Potter
#CAAHoops Scoreboard
Charleston 75, Delaware 63
Drexel 71, UNCW 66
Hofstra 75, Towson 67
Northeastern 88, James Madison 72
William & Mary 74, Elon 73
Road teams continued their strong start to CAA play, with four road teams collecting wins on Monday night.
Hofstra 75, Towson 67
Desure Buie poured in a career-high 35 points as Hofstra rallied from another 12-point second half deficit and turned the tables in defeating Towson, 75-67, on Monday afternoon at SECU Arena.
Buie added six rebounds and six assists in breaking his previous career-best of 29 points set against UCLA earlier this season.
The win was Hofstra's (11-4, 2-0 CAA) fifth straight, while Towson (6-8, 0-2 CAA) dropped its second straight game.
Junior Tareq Coburn joined Buie in double figures with 14 points (and seven rebounds) for the Pride. The victory marked the first time Hofstra has come back from double-digit deficits in back-to-back games since defeating Delaware and Drexel in February of 2017.
After Towson closed the first half with a 14-2 run to open a 36-28 halftime lead, the Tigers would add two early baskets in the opening minute of the second stanza to push its advantage to 12, 40-28.
From there, however, Hofstra would mount its comeback, starting with a 12-0 run to knot the score at 40 with 15:30 to play in regulation. Sophomore Isaac Kante got the run started with a pair of big buckets.
The game would still be tied at 50 with just over 12 minutes left before the Pride took control with ten straight points, including back-to-back three-pointers from Buie to take a commanding 60-50 advantage with 8:40 left. Coburn pushed it to an 11-point lead with 6:24 showing on the clock and the Pride lead would not get under six the rest of the way as Hofstra moved to 2-0 in conference play with a pair of huge road wins.
Allen Betrand led Towson with 17 points, while Nicolas Timberlake added 12 points and seven rebounds.
Charleston 75, Delaware 63
For the second-straight game, Grant Riller was one of four players in double figures to lead College of Charleston to another road win – this time at Delaware, 75-63, on Monday night at the Bob Carpenter Center.
The Cougars (8-6, 2-0 CAA) have now won three in a row and are off to a 2-0 start to Colonial Athletic Association play.
Despite being in foul trouble for most of the ballgame, Riller poured in a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field.
Brevin Galloway came up big for Charleston with four 3-pointers to end the night with 14 points, while Zep Jasper turned in his second-straight game in double figures with 12. Jaylen McManus added 11.
The Blue Hens (11-4, 1-1 CAA) suffered their first home loss of the season after starting off the year 5-0. They were led in scoring by leading scorer Nate Darling, who had 17.
Charleston used an 11-0 run in the second half along with holding Delaware defensively to just 23 points to secure the road win. The Cougars trailed 40-34 at halftime.
Kevin Anderson added 11 points and six rebounds, and Collin Goss had 10 rebounds for the Blue Hens.
Drexel 71, UNCW 66
Camren Wynter poured in 30 points, including Drexel's final eight points of the game, as the Dragons defeated UNCW, 71-66, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Monday night.
Drexel (8-7, 1-1 CAA) evened its record in CAA play; UNCW (5-10, 0-2 CAA) dropped its seventh straight game.
The Dragons led by just one at 65-64 with 3:03 to play after a Marin Linssen lay-up. Drexel answered by holding UNCW without a field goal the rest of the way. Wynter made a jump shot with 2:07 on the clock to increase the lead to three. After a pair of Mike Okauru free throws, Wynter hit another jumper. Jaylen Sims then missed a three-pointer that could have tied it with 45 seconds remaining. Wynter then made two of four free throws in the final 18 seconds to seal the Dragons’ first CAA win of the year.
UNCW trailed by just two at halftime, but came out strong in the early minutes of the second half. The Seahawks took a five-point lead with just under 14 minutes remaining after two Imajae Dodd buckets. Drexel called time and responded with eight straight points. Zach Walton started the run with a three-point play and Matey Juric nailed a three-pointer during that stretch.
Wynter was 11-for-19 from the field and also had five boards, three assists and three steals. Walton finished with 14 points, six boards, three steals and three assists. Butler picked up eight points and led everyone with 11 rebounds. Drexel shot 47 percent from the floor and held UNCW to just one three-pointer in six attempts. The Seahawks came into the game making more than eight three-pointers per game.
Linssen led UNCW with 15 points before fouling out in the closing minutes. Okauru added 14, while Shykeim Phillips scored 12.
William & Mary 74, Elon 73
Nathan Knight and Andy Van Vliet combined for 43 points as William & Mary won an offensive second-half shootout, downing Elon, 74-73, on Monday night at the Schar Center in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams
William & Mary (9-5, 1-0 CAA) won its league opener on the road for the first time since 1991. Elon (4-10, 0-1 CAA) dropped its third straight game.
Knight led all scorers with 25 points on 9-of-14 from the floor, scoring 13-straight W&M points at one point in the second half. Van Vliet added 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
After the Tribe pulled even at the break with seven points in the final 70 seconds, the teams lit up the scoreboard in the second 20 minutes. In the end, W&M held the upper hand, hitting at a 65.2-percent clip (15-of-23), including 5-of-9 (55.6%) from 3 compared to Elon's 57.7-percent (15-of-26), including 7-of-12 (58.3%) from 3. The Tribe was 12-of-15 (80%) at the free throw line, outscoring the Phoenix by three at the charity stripe.
With 3:15 left and the game tied at 63, the Tribe used an 8-2 run to pull out its nation-leading fifth road win. Junior Luke Loewe drove baseline to put the Tribe up for good, and sophomore Thornton Scott, who returned after missing the last nine game due to injury, scored six-straight, his only six points of the night, including a dagger 3-pointer to beat the shot-clock with 55 seconds remaining.
Graduate student Marcus Sheffield II led Elon with 21 points, while freshman Hunter McIntosh had 18.
Northeastern 88, James Madison 72
Jordan Roland scored a game-high 33 points, Shaquille Walters posted a double-double with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds, and Bolden Brace came close to a triple-double with 16 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists to lead Northeastern to an 88-72 win over James Madison on Monday night at the Convocation Center.
Northeastern (8-6, 2-0 CAA) dished out a season-high 23 assists on 31 made field goals.
Tyson Walker was the fourth player in double figures for the Huskies, tallying 15 points and a career-high six assists. This was the fifth straight win for Northeastern over JMU, and the Huskies improve to 10-2 inside the Convocation Center.
The Huskies took a 12-point advantage at the half, but the Dukes rallied to within one, 47-46, with just over 15 minutes left in the game. Northeastern responded with a 16-0 run over 2:51 to grab a 17-point lead, 63-46 (12:18) and never looked back, The Huskies led for nearly 38 minutes of the game.
James Madison (7-6, 0-2 CAA) had four players in double figures as well and were led by Dashon Parker's career-high 19 points. Dwight Wilson added a double-double for the Dukes with 12 points and 11 boards, his fifth in six games.