CAA Men’s Basketball Recap – Jan. 31
Dylan Smith
Campbell 104, William & Mary 96
Box Score
DJ Smith’s 39-point effort allowed Campbell (10-13, 4-6 CAA) to stave off a late surge and pick up a 104-96 road victory over William & Mary (14-8, 5-5), handing the Tribe their first loss inside Kaplan Arena this season. The Camels’ top scorer watched six of his 12 makes go down from distance, including a 9-for-10 showing from the charity stripe in 39 minutes of work. Jeremiah Johnson chipped in 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor to go with five assists and four boards. Chris Fields Jr. put forth a 15-point, seven-rebound outing. Cam Gregory rounded out those in double figures with 12 points. The 104 points scored by Campbell set a program record for most points in a road game.
The Camels came out firing on all cylinders, connecting on 11 of their first 14 shots. Gregory and Smith registered five points apiece as Campbell jumped out to a 14-2 lead. Smith continued to pour it on and sparked a stretch of nine unanswered points with another triple and a pair of makes at the free-throw line to put the Camels up 30-7 with 12:25 to play. Campbell’s leading scorer orchestrated his team’s path to a 25-point lead, 48-23, after hitting his fourth 3-pointer of the frame with 5:36 to play. The Tribe started to inch their way back into the game before halftime with a 17-7 run, only for Campbell’s Johnson to finish with a finger roll at the rim before time expired to take a 57-40 lead into the intermission. Smith became just the eighth CAA player since the 2016-17 season to score at least 25 points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Camels watched their lead grow to as many as 22, 70-48, following an and-one finish from Smith with 16:21 to play. The Tribe came racing back into the contest over the next seven minutes. Jo’el Emanuel hit a triple before streaking down the lane for a two-handed slam that sparked an 11-2 run at 12:19. Shortly after, Kilian Brockhoff rattled off the first five points of a 14-0 spurt that brought the Tribe to within two, 75-73, with 9:10 to play. Neither team led by more than two possessions until Johnson and Chris Fields Jr. finished in close through traffic to make it a 97-90 game with 78 seconds to play. The Camels held on for an eight-point win. Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi led six Tribe players in double figures with 18 points and four boards. Reese Miller chipped in 17 points of his own, while Ryan Jackson Jr. and Kyle Pulliam posted 13 points apiece.
Drexel 61, N.C. A&T 60
Box Score
Kevon Vanderhorst beat the buzzer with a game-winning layup to lift Drexel (12-11, 6-4 CAA) to a 61-60 victory over N.C. A&T (9-12, 2-8 CAA). After the Aggies’ Lewis Walker hit a triple from the wing, Vanderhorst stormed down the sideline before finger rolling his attempt off the glass and in as time expired to pull off the win. Shane Blakeney led the Dragons with a 19-point, nine-rebound performance, watching three of his eight makes fall from behind the arc. Eli Beard scored all 12 of his points from distance, hitting four 3-pointers in the win.
After an early triple from Beard that put the Dragons ahead by four, the Aggies flipped the lead in their favor. An eight-point stretch was capped off by a Trent Middleton Jr. midrange finish to go up, 11-7, with 13:13 to play. Drexel turned the momentum back in its favor with a 13-4 run started and completed by Blakeney to take a 20-15 edge with 7:32 to play. Victor Panov helped the Dragons take a 29-21 lead into halftime after sinking a late 3-pointer with 11 seconds left in the first half.
Drexel and A&T traded blows over the first five minutes of the second stanza before a pair of trifectas from Beard and another triple from Blakeney bumped the Dragons’ lead to 17, 49-32, with 13:23 to play in regulation. The Aggies rallied with a 20-4 run, including a 10-point spurt at the hands of Walker and Brooklyn Vick, to make it a one-point game, 53-52, with 3:41 to play. Garfield Turner finished in close on back-to-back possessions to reclaim a five-point edge, 57-52, 90 seconds later. N.C. A&T eventually took a 60-59 lead after Walker connected on a triple from the wing with under 3.2 seconds to play. Vanderhorst streaked down the court and got to the paint before watching his bank shot fall through the basket to pick up the win. The Aggies’ Walker notched 19 points and five rebounds in the setback. Middleton added 16 points, seven boards and four helpers, while Vick added 10 points and three assists.
Stony Brook 72, Elon 68
Box Score
A pair of 17-point efforts from Rob Brown III and Andrej Shoshkikj propelled Stony Brook (14-9, 6-4 CAA) to its fifth-straight win with a 72-68 victory over Elon (13-10, 5-5 CAA). Brown sank five 3-pointers in the triumph, adding two boards and a pair of steals to his final line. Shoshkikj tallied a trio of treys while finishing with eight rebounds, four assists and two swipes. The Seawolves outscored the Phoenix, 14-4, in second-chance points.
After a quick bucket and a made free throw by the Phoenix, Stony Brook registered seven straight points, sparked by a layup from Erik Pratt and a trey by Brown III to take a 7-3 lead. Back-to-back triples from Shoshkikj and Brown III eventually doubled the Seawolves’ lead, 17-9, with. 13:48 to play. Elon’s Ned Hull quickly made it a one-possession game, 21-18, after sinking consecutive treys in a 35-second span approaching the midway point of the frame. Stony Brook’s distance shooting put the visitors ahead by double digits, 48-36, at halftime, connecting on six triples over the final 8:30 of the half, including a pair of trifectas from both Ethan Simmon and Brown.
Elon stormed back into the contest and slashed its deficit in half, 54-48, with a 12-6 run, including four made free throws from Bryson Cokley. After the Seawolves bumped their edge back to nine, Randall Pettus II connected on a triple before Ja’Juan Carr finished at the rim and Chandler Cuthrell scored six straight points to give the Phoenix a 58-57 lead with 7:35 remaining. After the two teams traded 6-0 spurts, Stony Brook’s Brown connected from distance to spark a 7-2 run that closed the game and gave the Seawolves a four-point win. Cuthrell led three Phoenix players with 17 points and six rebounds. Cokley and Carr chipped in 11 points apiece.
Towson 82, Hampton 50
Box Score
A 29-point showing from Dylan Williamson guided Towson (13-11, 5-6 CAA) to an 82-50 home triumph over Hampton (10-13, 4-6 CAA). The Tigers’ leading scorer went 11-for-20 from the floor with five 3-pointers, adding seven assists and three boards. Jack Doumbia Jr. notched 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes of action. Mor Seck also eclipsed double figures in scoring with a perfect 5-for-5 shooting performance en route to an 11-point showing.
The Tigers jumped out to an 8-2 lead following a Tyler Coleman triple at 15:30. After Jalyke Gaines-Wyatt scored six of the first 11 points for the Pirates to make it a one-point game, Towson started to find its rhythm. The Tigers rattled off 18 straight points, including 12 from Dylan Williamson, to take a 30-11 lead with 8:25 to play. Towson found itself ahead by as many as 24 in the opening frame before taking a 45-24 lead into the break. Etienne Strothers helped Hampton bring its deficit down to 16, 52-36, after scoring five points on the team’s 7-0 run with 13:43 to play in regulation. Williamson halted the run with a 3-pointer from the wing and sparked a 10-point retaliation to reclaim a 62-36 edge with 9:32 to play. Towson went on to secure a 32-point victory. Hampton’s Gaines-Wyatt and Strothers notched 11 and 10 points apiece, respectively.
Hofstra 73, Monmouth 57
Box Score
Hofstra (14-9, 5-5 CAA) captured a 73-57 victory on the road over Monmouth (11-12, 5-5 CAA), thanks to a 24-point performance from Cruz Davis. The senior guard went 9-for-15 from the floor with four 3-pointers, four rebounds and two assists. Joshua Reaves went 5-for-6 from the floor, 4-of-5 from behind the arc and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe en route to 17 points in the win. Preston Edmead logged 13 points, eight assists and four boards in 38 minutes of work. Silas Sunday put forth a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Reaves and Cruz Davis each sank a pair of 3-pointers in the opening 5:30 of the contest to help Hofstra to a 16-5 lead. The Hawks retaliated with a 16-6 spurt that saw a transition bucket from Justin Ray make it a 27-21 game with 5:01 to play. Monmouth’s Ray and Cornelius Robinson Jr. slashed the deficit down to four, 37-33, at halftime after closing the frame on a 6-0 spurt. Hofstra continued to find a rhythm in the second half as German Plotnikov sank a triple six minutes into the frame that saw the Pride’s lead grow to double digits, 51-40. Sunday and Davis combined to register seven straight points for a 58-42 edge with just over 10 minutes to play. Hofstra’s lead remained in double figures the rest of the way before sealing the 16-point win. Justin Ray paced the Hawks with 15 points, while Robinson added 14 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Andrew Ball also produced a 10-point effort.
Charleston 89, Northeastern 84
Box Score
A 29-point, 11-assist double-double from Jlynn Counter helped orchestrate an 89-84 victory for Charleston (15-8, 8-2 CAA) over Northeastern (6-15, 2-8 CAA). The Cougars’ top scorer went 9-for-15 from the floor and 10-of-13 from the charity stripe. The big man tandem of Christian Reeves and Chol Machot combined to score 29 points on a 13-for-17 showing inside the arc. The duo also pulled down 15 of the team’s 35 rebounds on the afternoon. The Huskies’ William Kermoury nearly willed his team to victory after going off for 36 points on 15-of-27 from the floor and six triples.
The Cougars and the Huskies exchanged a pair of leads to open the contest before Kermoury sank a triple to spark a 9-0 run and a 20-14 lead with 12:22 to play. After Charleston retaliated with a seven-point spurt capped off by a Connor Hickman trey, Kermoury countered again with a make from distance to close out another nine-point run, going up 29-21 with 6:15 to play. CofC’s Christian Reeves led the charge into the intermission as he beat the halftime buzzer with a putback finish as time expired to cut the visitors’ deficit to two, 40-38, at the break.
The Cougars eventually took a 50-49 lead with 15:16 remaining after Martin Kalu finished in transition to cap a 9-3 run. The two teams continued to trade blows until Mike Loughane hit a triple with 10:13 to play that gave the Huskies a 61-60 edge. Loughnane finished with 24 points on 11-of-16 shooting with four helpers. Charleston and Northeastern traded six lead changes and four ties before Counter took over. The game’s leading scorer registered a personal 9-0 run and scored the final 11 points for the Cougars to secure the five-point win. Along with Kermoury and Loughnane, Luca Soroa Schaller recorded 13 points, 15 boards and six assists in the setback.