Men's #CAAHoops Recap: Feb. 8
Bill Potter
Delaware 80, James Madison 78
Nate Darling scored 27 points, including the game-winning shot with 5 seconds left, and Delaware beat James Madison 80-78 on Saturday to win its sixth straight.
Ryan Allen's free throw put Delaware up 78-76 with 27 seconds left, but JMU's Deshon Parker tied it with a layup. Darling scored on the next possession on a short jumper in the lane and Parker missed a layup at the buzzer.
Darling made 4 of 9 3-pointers and all nine of his free throws.
Justyn Mutts scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and Kevin Anderson added 21 points for Delaware (18-7, 8-4 CAA).
Parker scored 23 points and made five assists for the Dukes (9-15, 2-11 CAA). Matt Lewis scored 21 points with seven rebounds and Zach Jacobs added 16 points off the bench.
Towson 76, Drexel 69
Allen Bertrand scored a career-high 31 points, Brian Fobbs added 19 more and Towson battled past Drexel 76-69 on Saturday
Bertrand was 10-for-16 shooting with three 3-pointers and made all eight free throws.
Trailing by as many as six early in the second half, Charles Thomas picked off a Drexel pass and hammered down a dunk that lifted Towson (14-11, 8-5 CAA) to a 47-46 lead with 12:43 to go and the Tigers never trailed again, snapping Drexel's string of five straight wins at home.
The Dragons (13-12, 6-6 CAA) led 40-33 at the break but Towson shot 52-percent in the last 20 minutes. Bertrand scored 20 points after halftime and Fobbs 15 as Towson outscored Drexel 43-29 in the second.
Camren Wynter led the Dragons with 24 points, Zach Walton added 17 and James Butler scored 13 with eight rebounds.
Hofstra 75, Northeastern 71
Jalen Ray and Desure Buie scored 22 points apiece and Ray sank four free throws in the last three seconds as Hofstra squeaked past Northeastern 75-71 on Saturday, claiming first place in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Eli Pemberton had 12 points for Hofstra (18-7, 9-3 CAA), which rallied from 14 points down to earn its fourth consecutive victory. Stafford Trueheart added seven rebounds.
Jordan Roland, the nation's fifth-leading scorer at 23 points per game, poured in 32 for the Huskies (11-13, 5-7), including a leaping, left-handed 3-pointer from the left elbow that cut the Hofstra lead to 69-68 with 8,5 seconds on the clock. Jason Strong added 14 points The Huskies have lost four consecutive games.
Elon 72, Charleston 65
Marcuss Sheffield scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Elon knocked Charleston out of a tie for the league lead with a 72-65 victory on Saturday.
Sheffield, a graduate transfer from Stanford, went 11-of-12 from the foul line to match his Elon high but was four points shy of his collegiate high as a Cardinal sophomore in 2016-17.
The Phoenix (9-17, 5-8 CAA) bolted out to a 27-14 lead in the first half by knocking down six 3-pointers. The Cougars charged back and only trailed 32-30 at the half.
Brevin Galloway opened the second half with a 3-pointer for College of Charleston and 2 1/2 minutes later Grant Riller hit a 3-pointer to give the Cougars a four-point lead. Sheffield had seven points in a 10-0 run and the Phoenix never trailed again and went up by 12 with three minutes left on three free throws by Hunter Woods.
Elon finished 11 of 28 behind the 3-point arc and 8 of 25 inside.
Riller had 26 points for College of Charleston (15-10, 9-4 CAA) and Osinachi Smart 10 points and 10 rebounds.
UNCW 70, William & Mary 64
UNCW utilized its press in the second half to take the lead and then hold off William & Mary down the stretch in a 70-64 win at Trask Coliseum.
Trailing 35-34 at the half, UNCW (8-18, 3-10 CAA) fell behind by seven points, 43-36, with 15:58 remaining, but embarked on a 20-5 run over the next 10 minutes to flip the game and go up, 58-48 on a Brian Tolefree 3-point play.
Utilizing its full-court press, Ty Gadsden came away with a steal, with Tolefree gathering the loose ball and hitting the layup while being fouled to bring the Trask Coliseum crowd to its feet.
William & Mary (16-10, 8-5 CAA) would draw no closer than four points the remainder of the game.
Mike Okauru would lead UNCW with 15 points, adding three assists. Gadsden chipped in 14 points, while Marten Linssen came off the bench with 10 points.
Nathan Knight collected his NCAA-leading 20
th double-double of the season for William & Mary, posting 16 points and 13 rebounds. Andy Van Vliet and Miguel Ayesa each had 12 for the Tribe, while Luke Loewe added 10.