Men's #CAAHoops Recap: Feb. 29
Bill Potter
Hofstra 97, James Madison 81
Eli Pemberton scored a career-high 35 points and Hofstra drilled a school-record 20 3-pointers en route to a 97-81 win over James Madison on Saturday that gave the Pride back-to-back outright CAA championships.
Desure Buie had 26 points and nine assists for the Pride (23-8, 14-4 CAA), Tareq Coburn added 14 and Jalen Ray 12 points. Hofstra became just the sixth program in CAA history to claim consecutive outright regular-season titles.
Buie was 7 of 11 and Pemberton 5 of 7 from 3-point range as Hofstra went 20 of 36 (68%) from distance. Coburn had four triples.
Hofstra raced to a 61-33 lead at the half, going 13 of 21 behind the arc, 7 of 10 inside. The barrage continued until the middle of the second half.
James Madison (9-20, 2-16) made 10 of 11 shots to open the second half and its deficit increased by two to 90-60. In the last 12 minutes Hofstra was 4 of 18 but still shot 54% for the game.
Matt Lewis had 22 points and seven rebounds for the Dukes, who have lost seven games in a row. Deshon Parker added 18 points and Michael Christmas 16.
Charleston 75, Drexel 66
Grant Riller had 25 points as College of Charleston topped Drexel 75-66 on Saturday.
Sam Miller had 14 points and eight rebounds for Charleston (17-13, 11-7 Colonial Athletic Conference). Jaylen McManus added 13 points and Zep Jasper had 12. With the win, Charleston secured a top-4 seed for the upcoming CAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
Camren Wynter had 18 points and seven assists for the Dragons (13-18, 6-12), who have lost seven games in a row. Zach Walton added 18 points. James Butler had 11 rebounds.
William & Mary 86, Elon 79
William & Mary secured the No. 2 seed for the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship with an 86-79 win over visiting Elon.
William & Mary (21-10, 13-5 CAA) never trailed on its senior day, earning its best seed for the CAA Championship since the 2014-15 season when the Tribe earned the No. 1 seed.
Nathan Knight closed his regular season with 20 points and five rebounds, while Andy Van Vliet posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 boards. In total, five William & Mary players finished in double figures, with Bryce Barnes adding 15, Quinn Blair 14 and Thornton Scott 10.
Marcus Sheffield and Hunter McIntosh accounted for 49 of Elon’s 79 points, with Sheffield posting a game-high 27 and McIntosh going for 22.
Elon (11-20, 7-11 CAA) will be the No. 7 seed for the CAA Championship.
Delaware 82, UNCW 65
Kevin Anderson had 14 points to lead six Delaware players in double figures as the Fightin' Blue Hens topped UNCW 82-65 on Saturday night.
Ryan Allen, Justyn Mutts and Nate Darling added 13 points apiece for the Blue Hens (21-10, 11-7 CAA). Jacob Cushing chipped in 11 points. Darling also had seven rebounds.
With the win, the Blue Hens secured the No. 5 seed for the upcoming CAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
Marten Linssen had 19 points for the Seahawks (10-21, 5-13). Ty Gadsden added 14 points. Shykeim Phillips had 12 points, six rebounds, six assists and five steals.
UNCW will be the No. 9 seed for the CAA Men’s Basketball Championship.