Men's #CAAHoops Recap: Jan. 11
William & Mary 67, Charleston 56
William & Mary is 5-0 to start Colonial Athletic Association play for the third time in school history.
Nathan Knight continued his double-double ways, junior Luke Loewe showed his defensive moxie and the Tribe (13-5, 5-0 CAA) used a first-half-ending 16-4 run to take control on the way to a 67-56 victory over previous CAA-unbeaten Charleston (11-7, 5-1 CAA) on Saturday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.
Knight produced his fourth-straight double-double and nation-leading 14th on the year with 21 points and 13 rebounds. He moved into fifth place on both the Tribe's career scoring and rebounding lists.
Loewe scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, but his biggest impact came on the defensive end where he limited the league's preseason player of the year Grant Riller to just 3-of-12 shooting and 10 points. Riller entered the game ranked among the top 10 in the country averaging a CAA-best 22.6 points per game. In three of the Tribe's last four wins, as the primary defender, Loewe has limited three of the CAA's top-four scoring guards - Riller (22.6), Northeastern's Jordan Roland (21.6) and Hofstra's Desure Buie (19.1) - to just 9-of-40 shooting (22.5%).
The Tribe hit seven of its final 10 shots in the first half as part of a 16-4 run over the final five minutes to take a 37-27 advantage at the break. W&M hit four 3-pointers during that stretch, including a pair from sophomore Thornton Scott, and freshman Miguel Ayesa's triple in the closing seconds gave W&M a 10-point halftime lead.
The home team carried the momentum over the second half, holding Charleston without a field goal for the opening five minutes. The Tribe used a 7-2 run capped by a Loewe 3-pointer and a Bryce Barnes lay-up to take a 44-29 lead with 16:10 left.
W&M received a big lift from its bench, which outscored Charleston, 25-19. Scott, who led the Tribe with five assists, and freshman Rainers Hermanovskis scored eight points apiece, while sophomore Quinn Blair added six points and six rebounds as a reserve.
Towson 84, Delaware 68
Towson claimed its third consecutive victory after defeating rival Delaware 84-68 in a CAA masterpiece Saturday afternoon.
Towson (9-9, 3-3 CAA) used a 21-3 run in the first half to break the game open against Delaware (12-6, 2-3 CAA).
Towson created consistent chaos on defense during a dominant first-half. The Tigers held Delaware to 33-percent shooting, limited the Blue Hens to three baskets over the final 12 minutes and sprinted to a 22-point halftime bulge for the second straight game.
The balanced Tigers placed five players in double figures and handed out a season best 18 assists on 28 baskets.
Allen Betrand scored a game-high 18 points after making eight of his first nine shots while also adding five rebounds. Nicolas Timberlake (14 points) and Juwan Gray (13 points) combined for 27 of the Tigers' 33 bench points.
Brian Fobbs, who gave the Tigers the lead for good with 12:12 remaining in the first half after a 3-pointer, and Jason Gibson added 12 points each.
Delaware, which entered the contest as the top shooting team in the CAA, got 16 points from Nate Darling and 15 points from Ryan Allen. Dylan Painter tallied 11 points for the Blue Hens.
Drexel 78, James Madison 71
Camren Wynter scored all 17 of his points in the second half and made seven of his eight free throws in the final 28 seconds as Drexel defeated James Madison, 78-71.
Wynter finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Drexel (10-8, 3-2 CAA), which won for the first time in the JMU Convocation Center since the 2011-12 season.
Drexel led the entire way, but the lead was never more than nine points. James Madison (8-9, 1-5 CAA) got the deficit down to two points on four occasions in the final four minutes, but each time, Drexel had an answer. Deshon Parker scored in the lane for the Dukes with 1:38 to go to make it a 69-67 game. Wynter responded by making a jumper to extend Drexel's lead to four. The Dragons then got two straight stops, one on a missed jumper and the other on a turnover, and Wynter finished the Dukes off at the line. The sophomore scored the last nine points of the game.
Wynter wasn't the only story, as the Dragons had a balanced offensive effort all night. Four players scored in double figures and eight players came up with at least two buckets. Mate Okros scored 12 points, all of them coming on three-pointers in the first half. Matey Juric added 11, while James Butler had his 11th double-double of the year with 10 points and 13 rebounds. He also added to his league leading block total with three.
The teams played an exciting first half with back-and-forth action each way. The Dragons jumped out to an early 8-0 lead as Okros knocked down two early three-pointers. The Dukes answered with a barrage of three-pointers of their own and tied it at 22-22 on a Matt Lewis three. The Dragons countered with a 7-0 run, propelled by four points by T.J. Bickerstaff. JMU tied it up in the closing seconds, but Drexel took a two-point lead to the half after Zach Walton scored on a put-back at the buzzer. The teams combined for 13 three-pointers in the half.
The Dragons defense held the Dukes to just 36 percent shooting from the floor. After making six three-pointers in the first half, the Dukes were held to just 2-for-9 over the final 20 minutes. Drexel shot 45 percent from the field and made 11 three-pointers, just one shy of its season high.
Lewis led JMU with 24 points and had four three-pointers. Darius Banks added 13, while Michael Christmas scored 12 points.
Elon 80, UNCW 63
Elon earned its first CAA win of the season after defeating UNCW, 80-63, at the Schar Center.
Elon (5-13, 1-4 CAA) was led by freshman Zac Ervin, who dropped a career-high 27 points while knocking down seven threes on the evening. Freshman guard Hunter McIntosh chipped in 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win.
UNCW (5-14, 0-6 CAA) was led by Mike Okauru, who recorded 15 points and six rebounds in the contest.
With the Phoenix down by eight early in the second half, three straight triples by Hunter McIntosh, Ervin and Hunter Woods that put Elon back on top by one. After a quick UNCW timeout, Simon Wright faked a pass to Marcus Sheffield before driving to the rim for a thunderous one-handed slam. The Phoenix concluded a 23-1 run with a Wright jumper that put Elon up 59-44 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.
After UNCW cut the Phoenix lead down to 12, Chuck Hannah grabbed an offensive rebound and got his floater to fall. A few moments later, Ervin knocked down another long ball to extend the Phoenix's lead back to 17. Elon's 11-2 run culminated in a Sheffield triple and gave the Phoenix a 72-52 advantage late.
The Phoenix came out of the gates firing early in the first half, jumping out to a quick 7-2 lead. Ervin got things going early, knocking down two triples in the game's opening three minutes. Continuing his hot start, Ervin dropped in two more threes and a tough layup to give the Phoenix a 15-7 advantage with just under 15 minutes remaining in the opening half.
With just under 13 minutes to play in the first half and the Phoenix leading by two, Kris Wooten scored six quick points to out Elon back up by eight. Wooten's first points came off a Federico Poser assist that Wooten layed up and in plus the foul. On the next trip down the court, Wooten was left open in the corner where Poser would again find him for a knock-down three.
UNCW fought back into the game late in the first half and took a 38-33 lead into the break.