CAA Men’s Basketball Recap – Feb. 7
Dylan Smith
Drexel 82, Elon 77
Box Score
Drexel (13-11, 7-5 CAA) picked up its fourth win in its last five games with an 82-77 victory over Elon (13-11, 5-7 CAA). Eli Beard went 6-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from distance en route to 16 points and three assists. Victor Panov and Shane Blakeney also tallied an identical 15 points with a trio of 3-pointers and four rebounds to their final lines. Garfield Turner chipped in a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double, while adding three assists. Drexel’s reserves outscored its opposition’s bench, 26-3, in the victory.
Aside from a 4-0 lead from Drexel out of the gate, neither team led by more than four at the first media timeout. The Dragons’ Panov hit a pair of 3-pointers and a floater in the paint to spark an 11-2 run that put the visitors ahead by eight, 14-6, with 15:23 to play. The Phoenix retaliated shortly after as Isaac Harrell and Randall Pettus II went back-to-back from deep to cap off an eight-point run and pull within one, 17-16. The Dragons worked its lead back to eight, 27-19, as another skip pass across the baseline found an open Beard for a corner triple to finish off a 10-3 spurt with eight minutes to play. The spree of triples continued down the stretch as both programs finished the frame with six 3-pointers apiece. The Dragons closed out the opening stanza on a 10-4 run to take an eight-point edge, 46-38, into the intermission.
Shane Blakeney scored 10 of the first 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, that helped Drexel secure a 60-48 advantage just six minutes into the second half. Bryson Cokley took over and helped the Phoenix slash their deficit down to as few as four after a personal 6-0 spurt at the midway point of the frame. The Phoenix’s guard finished with 19 points and five boards. The Dragons prevented Elon from making it a one-possession game down the stretch, having a response for almost all of their makes from the floor and the charity stripe before securing the five-point win. Harrell led all scorers with 25 points after five of his seven makes came from distance and logged a 6-for-6 showing from the floor, adding seven boards to his final line. Chandler Cuthrell produced a 15-point, nine-rebound effort in the setback.
Campbell 79, North Carolina A&T 71
Box Score
A 24-point, eight-rebound showing from Jeremiah Johnson propelled Campbell (12-13, 6-6 CAA) to a 79-71 victory at North Carolina A&T (9-14, 2-10 CAA). The sophomore guard went 8-of-12 from the floor with three triples, while dishing out four assists. Dovydas Butka notched his ninth double-double of the season, with nine of his 17 points coming at the charity stripe and pulling down 10 boards along the way. DJ Smith rounded out those in double figures with 14 points. The Camels outscored the Aggies on the fastbreak, 23-12, and sank 47.3% of their shots from the field (26-55 FG).
There were four ties and three lead changes in the opening 5:10 of the contest en route to a 12-12 deadlock. Smith connected on a triple 15 seconds later that sparked a 10-0 spree for the Camels to take a 22-12 lead. The Aggies retaliated with eight unanswered points, led by a pair of layups from Will Felton to pull within two, 22-20, with under nine minutes to play. After A&T made it a one-point game, Butka guided the Camels out to a 10-2 run with four of his six points coming at the charity stripe to take a 33-24 lead with 6:19 to play. The Aggies cut the deficit to as few as two down the stretch before a midrange make from Chris Fields Jr. gave Campbell a 40-36 lead at the break.
It remained a two-possession game until Fields took control of the game with under 15 minutes to play in regulation. The Camels’ forward capped off a 12-3 run with an impressive acrobatic and-one at the rim to give Campbell a 63-50 advantage at the 11:50 mark. Felton scored 10 of the next 12 points for the Aggies to bring the deficit back down to single digits, 69-61, with seven minutes to go. The redshirt junior center finished with 15 points and six boards off the bench. The Camels’ Johnson sank a triple to spark a 7-2 run before closing out the game with four of the final six points to secure an eight-point victory. A&T’s Lewis Walker notched a team-best 17 points, while Dwayne Pierce chipped in 10 points.
Hampton 77, William & Mary 74
Box Score
Hampton (12-13, 6-6 CAA) continued to be one of the best teams at home after moving to 9-1 at Convocation Center following a 77-74 victory over William & Mary (15-9, 6-6 CAA). Etienne Strothers saw four of his five makes come from distance and knocked down four free throws en route to an 18-point performance. Elijah Kennedy and Xzavier Long chipped in 13 points apiece, with the latter pulling down 14 boards. Josh Ogundele scored six of his 10 points from the charity stripe.
The Pirates’ Strothers sank a pair of early treys to help secure a 10-6 lead five minutes into the contest. The Tribe countered with five points in 13 seconds to take an 11-10 edge. The Pirates eventually broke a 12-12 tie with back-to-back finishes at the rim by Long, followed by a triple from Aidan Haskins to take a 19-12 lead with under 12 minutes to play. After the Tribe made it a one-possession game, Daniel Johnson hit consecutive 3-pointers to help Hampton reclaim a six-point edge, 31-25, with 6:50 to play. W&M tied the game at 31 after Ryan Jackson Jr. sparked a 6-0 spurt over the next 2:10 before the Tribe took a 39-35 edge into the intermission.
The two teams exchanged blows from the free-throw line to open the second half. Hampton’s Long and Kennedy sank back-to-back treys to make it a two-point game, 53-51, with 12:32 remaining. A 5-0 run by the Tribe was quickly diminished by nine straight points from the Pirates, including a breakaway slam from Strothers to guide Hampton to a 60-58 lead with 8:19 to play. Neither team saw a lead greater than four down the stretch, exchanging two ties and three lead changes over the final four minutes. Hampton sealed the game with a wing trifecta from Strothers before a steal-and-slam finished off by Kennedy to put the game away. W&M’s Jackson led with a team-best 18 points, while Kyle Pulliam registered seven of his 13 points from the line.
Stony Brook 69, Northeastern 55
Box Score
Stony Brook (15-10, 7-5 CAA) earned its sixth win in its last seven games following a 69-55 home victory over Northeastern (6-17, 2-10 CAA). Erik Pratt went 6-for-11 from the floor to finish with 13 points and five boards. Jonah Butler and Andrej Shoshkikj chipped in 10 points and four rebounds apiece, seeing the latter notch a team-high five assists. Nine players scored in the winning effort, helping the Seawolves shoot 48.0% from the floor (24-50 FG).
Northeastern’s Mike Loughnane and JB Frankel both hit early 3-pointers before Stony Brook started to find its rhythm. Rob Brown III finished in transition before Tomas Valentiny connected from distance that jumpstarted a 16-2 run that put the Seawolves ahead by eight, 16-8, with under seven minutes to play. Stony Brook nearly doubled its lead with a 9-2 spree finished off by Erik Pratt at the rim to take a 25-11 lead with 4:42 to play. Frankel sank back-to-back triples on the ensuing possessions, only for Seawolves to maintain a double-digit edge, 29-19, at the break.
Pratt picked up the pace in the second half, scoring seven of the first 12 points for Stony Brook to secure a 41-25 advantage at the under-16 media timeout. The Huskies continued to battle as Loughnane scored six straight points for the Huskies before sinking a trey to finish off a 14-9 spurt to pull within 13. The Huskies’ leading scorer finished with 17 points and five boards. The Seawolves’ Shoshkikj and Butler each scored seven points apiece in the second stanza alone. The two teams went back and forth down the stretch until Stony Brook prevailed with a 14-point win.
Hofstra 71, Towson 49
Box Score
A 20-point showing from Biggie Patterson led Hofstra (16-9, 7-5 CAA) to a season sweep of Towson (13-12, 5-7 CAA) with a 71-49 victory on Long Island. The senior guard went 6-for-10 from the floor and matched a season high with three trifectas. Cruz Davis chipped in 16 points, five boards, five helpers and a pair of steals in the win. Preston Edmead nearly registered a double-double with 13 points, nine assists and five rebounds. The Pride captured its first true home-and-home season sweep of the Tigers since the 2019 campaign.
It was a back-and-forth affair to open the contest before Hofstra broke out for a double-digit lead. Edmead sank a triple near the midway point of the opening stanza before Joshua DeCady downed a two-handed slam and Patterson capped off the 8-0 run with a trey of his own. After a Tyler Tejada midrange jumper, Patterson continued to score at a high clip as he went on a personal six-point spurt and finished the larger 23-5 run in close to take a 36-16 lead with 5:13 to play. Patterson and Edmead connected on back-to-back trifectas in the final two minutes of the first half to help the Pride take a 46-20 lead into the intermission. It was much of the same in the second half as Cruz Davis scored five of the first eight Hofstra points of the frame and never looked back. The Pride proved to be too much for the Tigers, despite a 17-point, six-rebound effort from their top scorer, Tejada.