CAA Tournament: Quarterfinal Action

Pride sent packing The No. 6 seeded George Mason University Partiots defeated No. 3 Hofstra University 64-61 tonight in CAA Tournament quarterfinal action at the Richmond Coliseum.

Though the three-point victory for Mason (11-9 CAA, 18-14) came off a last second miscue by Hofstra's (14-5 CAA, 22-9) Greg Johnson , GMU coach Jim Larranaga said he was quite proud of his team's victory and continued journey in the CAA tournament. "It was sure nice to win," he said.

But it didn't come easy. At the end of the first half, Mason was leading by 15 points but Hofstra came out of the locker room with a vengeance and took over the lead by two points within two minutes.

Luckily for Mason, GMU's Gabe Norwood soon thereafter got his team back into the scoring mode with a two-pointer that Larranaga said was the most pivotal shot of the game.

"In the second half, Gabe Norwood really stepped up," Larranaga said. "I know it doesn't show in terms of quantity but the quality of his performance was really outstanding…it was a huge basket because it got us excited again about playing hard."

It also got GMU's defense back on track. In the first half, Hofstra's big shooter Carlos Rivera had pulled 15 points, five of them three-pointers. But in the second, GMU's defense switched formats to limit Rivera to only six additional points.

George Mason, who made a trip to the Final Four last year after the CAA tournament, faces No. 2 seeded Old Dominion University in tomorrow night's semifinal game at 5:30 p.m. --Kent Jennings Brockwell Monarchal Rule Old Dominion extended its winning streak to 12 games on Saturday with a hard-fought 58-55 victory over Towson University in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament.

The No. 2 seeded Monarchs (16-3 CAA, 24-7), who earned a bye in the first round of the tournament, overcame a 13-point deficit in the first half to advance to tomorrow's round at Richmond Coliseum.

A loss to the No. 7 Tigers (9-11 CAA, 16-17) would have put ODU's chances of earning a berth in the NCAA tournament in jeopardy.

Richmond's own Brian Henderson , a graduate of Varina High School, led Monarch scorers with 24 points, going 9 for 12 from the floor and 6 for 9 from behind the arc. The 6-4 junior guard also delivered in the clutch, connecting on two consecutive three-pointers at the seven-minute mark to put ODU ahead by five. "I was feeling it tonight," Henderson said after the game.

Monarch Coach Blaine Taylor said Henderson's performance wasn't a first-time occurrence. "Brian has done this in the past," he said. "Eventually you need to get the ball in the hole and Brian was the man to do that for us today." Gary Neal , who led the Tigers with 22 points, put his team within three after drilling one from behind the arc with less than a minute to play. Towson then had a chance to tie the game at the end, but with no timeouts remaining, Rodney Spruill was forced to launch a desperate three-pointer in traffic which came up short.

Overall, there were four different lead changes in Saturday's contest. "Tonight's game was almost like a heavyweight fight going back and forth like it did," Towson Coach Pat Kennedy said.

The Monarch's will now play the winner of Saturday's Hofstra – George Mason contest tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.

Old Dominion's winning streak is the fifth-longest in the nation and the program's longest in 17 years. --Caine O'Rear Dragons scorch Northeastern No. 5 Northeastern should have just slept in this afternoon instead of facing off with No. 4 Drexel , who won Saturday's quarterfinal match 64-50.

Drexel (14-5 CAA, 23-7) came off the opening whistle with fire in their eyes and their hands in every play, both theirs and the Huskies' (9-10 CAA, 13-19).

Though a stingy hands-on Dragon's defense caused Northeastern to falter offensively for most of the first half, the 35-18 halftime score could be credited almost single-handedly to Drexel center Frank Elgar 's 15 points for the half.

"Early on, they dictated the tempo and forced us out of our offence with their ball pressure," said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen after the game. "I think their full-court pressure was the difference in this game."

Though Drexel was able to pull off a 14-point victory, head coach Bruiser Flint admitted that his team's offense wasn't as poignant as it could have been in the second half.

"We played good defense [but] we didn't shoot as well in the second half," he said.

As for his team's upcoming date with VCU in the semifinals, Flint said it's just a matter of, well, winning.

"We play hard," he said. "We just have to go out there and get a win [but] we have been sure to take this one game at a time."

Shortly before the final buzzer, Drexel's sizable student section began taunting residual VCU fans at the Coliseum with a "We want VCU" chant. In response, one VCU fan wearing ram's horns held up a dry-erase board that read "Be careful what you wish for!"

Drexel and VCU face off on Sunday's semifinal game at 3 p.m. --Kent Jennings Brockwell Rams roll to the semis With a hearty 73-60 win over No. 9 Georgia State in today's quarterfinal match up, the No. 1 Virginia Commonwealth University Rams showed off exactly why they have the top ranking in the Colonial Athletic Association .

A very sloppy Georgia State (5-14 CAA, 11-20) offence plus an aggressive early-on double team defense by VCU (17-2 CAA, 25-6) kept the Panthers in single digits on the scoreboard for most of the first half.

Though Georgia State gained some momentum with about 5:00 to go in the first, VCU's foul-conscious defense and several laser accurate field goals quickly put the Rams back in charge ending the half 43-33.

The second half began with a stronger, more accurate Georgia State offence and that hastily pulled the Panthers within five points of the lead.

The lead, however, was something VCU would control all game. With 4:00 remaining in the second half, the Rams held an 18 point lead and showed no signs of backing off. --Kent Jennings Brockwell

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RBlog coverage In addition to our comprehensive game coverage, we'll also be delivering lighter takes and the inside scoop from the Richmond Coliseum. From the beer taps to the mascots' locker room, we'll be there. VOTE: Who will win the CAA men's tourney? Check out our Ultimate CAA Guide for all the info!