CAA Men's Basketball Recap - Jan. 2
Rob Washburn
The first full night of conference play in CAA men's basketball featured an overtime thriller and two games decided by three points.
Towson 65, UNCW 61 (ot)
Box Score
Tyler Tejada scored six of his team-high 21 points in overtime as Towson (6-8, 1-0 CAA) pulled out a 65-61 road win at UNCW (10-4, 0-1 CAA).
In a game that was tied 12 times and had nine lead changes, UNCW went ahead 56-49 on a Harlan Obioha three-point play with 3:46 left in regulation. Back-to-back threes from Tejada and Dylan Williamson brought the Tigers within one and a pair of Tejada free throws sent the game to overtime tied at 57-57. In overtime, a Tomiwa Sulaiman dunk with 32 seconds to go put Towson ahead by two and Tejada clinched the win with a pair of free throws. Obioha paced UNCW with 18 points and 13 rebounds and Donovan Newby added 17 points.
Campbell 57, Drexel 54
Box Score
Colby Duggan posted a double-double with team-highs of 19 points and 11 rebounds and Jason Sinani added 14 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 57 seconds left, as Campbell (6-8, 1-0 CAA) edged Drexel (8-6, 0-1 CAA), 57-54.
In a tight contest that featured 17 lead changes, the Dragons went up 53-52 on a Cole Hargrove dunk with 2:10 remaining. After Sinani’s trey put the Camels back on top by two, Drexel’s Yame Butler went 1-for-2 at the line to trim the deficit to one with 12 seconds on the clock. Cam Gregory sank two free throws with nine seconds left to put Campbell ahead by three and a game-tying 3-point attempt by Drexel’s Kobe MaGee was off the mark as time expired. MaGee finished with 15 points and Hargrove had 12 points and nine boards.
Northeastern 80, Delaware 77
Box Score
Rashad King filled the stat sheet with 27 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three steals as Northeastern (9-5, 1-0 CAA) held off Delaware (7-7, 0-1 CAA), 80-77.
The Huskies built a 15-point advantage early in the second half and were up by eight with under five minutes to play before the Blue Hens responded with an 11-2 surge to grab a 77-76 lead on a John Camden free throw with 1:37 to go. King hit a pair of free throws to put NU back on top and then sealed the victory with two more after Delaware missed a shot in the paint with three seconds left. Masai Troutman chipped in 19 points for Northeastern, while Camden had 21 points and eight rebounds to pace five Blue Hens in double digits.
William & Mary 74, Hofstra 56
Box Score
William & Mary (7-7, 1-0 CAA) drained 10 three-pointers in the first half to build a 30-point advantage and went on to defeat Hofstra (8-6, 0-1 CAA), 74-56, for its first road win of the season.
Behind three treys apiece from reserves Matteus Case (15 points) and Kyle Frazier (12 points), the Tribe went up 48-18 with 2:40 to go in the first half. Hofstra closed the half on a 9-0 run and got as close as 15 with 9:47 to go before W&M pulled back away. The Tribe, which shot 52.1% from the floor and 12-of-21 from three, also got 12 points and eight rebounds from Noah Collier. The Pride was led offensively by Jaquan Sanders with 15 points.
Monmouth 78, Stony Brook 56
Box Score
Abdi Bashir, Jr. went 7-of-10 from 3-point range and poured in 31 points as Monmouth (3-11, 1-0 CAA) topped Stony Brook (4-10, 0-1 CAA), 78-56.
The Hawks, who shot 54.9% from the floor and hit 10-of-19 from beyond the arc, took a 37-25 lead at the half and maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the second half. In addition to Bashir’s big night, Jack Collins had nine points and seven rebounds for Monmouth. Stony Brook, which shot just 32.8%, got 15 points from Joe Octave and 12 off the bench from Nick Woodard.
Charleston 94, Hampton 67
Box Score
Derrin Boyd nailed six threes and scored a season-high 26 points and Ante Brzovic contributed 21 points and nine rebounds as Charleston (11-3, 1-0 CAA) pulled away for a 94-67 victory over Hampton (8-6, 1-1 CAA).
The Cougars were ahead 42-35 at halftime and got back-to-back treys from Boyd to start a dominant second half in which they outscored the Pirates by 20. CofC was 12-of-25 from three for the game and the Cougars’ defense held the Pirates to nine field goals in the second half. Hampton, which had its five-game winning streak snapped, got 22 points off the bench from freshman Daniel Johnson and 14 from George Beale, Jr.
Elon 75, North Carolina A&T 67
Box Score
All five Elon starters scored in double figures, led by 19 points from TJ Simpkins, as the Phoenix (10-4, 1-0 CAA) picked up a 75-67 road win at North Carolina A&T (4-11, 0-2 CAA).
Elon opened a 45-34 halftime advantage, but the Aggies rallied within 65-62 on a pair of Ryan Forrest free throws with 6:14 remaining. However, Simpkins answered with five straight points and Elon didn’t let A&T closer than six the rest of the way. Matthew Van Komen posted a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for Elon. A&T got 22 points from Landon Glasper and a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds from Nikolaos Chitikoudis.