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CAA Tournament: First Round Action

Huskies roll over the Dukes Northeastern survived a physical battle with James Madison on Friday night in the final game of the first round of the CAA tournament.

Despite JMU's attempt to erase a 10-point half time deficit, the Huskies were too much to handle, as they pulled away to a 73-55 victory.

"I thought our team came out with the right amount of intensity," said Northeastern head coach Bill Coen. "I was extremely proud of our entire team."

The two teams combined for more than 40 fouls, including a technical foul against JMU head coach Dean Keener after questioning an official's call mid-way through the second half. Keener appeared to question several calls throughout the night.

The Huskies had five players in double figures – Matt Janning with 13, Manny Adako with 12, Baptiste Bataille with 10 and Eugene Spates also with 10. JMU's Terrance Carter left all scorers with 15 points.

Northeastern was hot all night from the three-point line hitting eight out of 17 attempts, compared to three of 11 attempts from JMU.

The Huskies will face No. 3 seed George Mason tomorrow at 8:30 p.m.  

Delaware outlasts Drexel  

 

The No. 7 University of Delaware Blue Hens proved to be too much for No. 10 Drexel University beating the Dragons 60-51 in game three of the Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball championship.

 

One reason - Drexel's Frank Elegar left his offense back in Philly.

 

Though the Dragons were within three points at the half, with Elegar shooting 13 points in the first, Delaware quickly pulled ahead by 10 points in the second half and stayed there for most of the rest of the game.

 

Delaware guard Alphonso Dawson went shot for shot with Drexel center Frank Elegar to start off the game. But Elegar, who averaged 25 points per game in his two regular season games against Delaware, was shut down in the second half and held to just 15 points overall tonight, much in part to the outstanding defense of Jim Ledsome.

 

"When you are playing a guy like Frank Elegar, you can't stop him," said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. "You can only slow him down."

 

Besides turning up the defense in the second half, Delaware also pumped up its overall offensive effort. Ledsome, Herb Courtney, Marc Egerson and Alphonso Dawson each scored at least 10 points in the game. Brian Johnson had a team high six assists.

 

Delaware advances to face UNC Wilmington in quarterfinal action on Saturday at 6 p.m.

 

Tribe nearly tripped up Almost. That's all upset-minded Georgia State can say.



Despite trailing for much of the game, William & Mary's David Schneider hit a long three-pointer with 1.5 seconds to go to lead the Tribe to a 58-57 win in the first round of the CAA tournament.



"I felt like the three was going to be there, and I was going to take it," Schneider said.



For the other 39-plus minutes of the game it looked as if No. 12 seed Georgia State would pull off the first upset of the season.



A back court violation with 56 seconds to go and a missed free throw by Leonard Mendez with 7.9 seconds to go gave William & Mary a chance to pull off the win.



Schneider led the Tribe with 20 points. Danny Sumner added 17.

Mendez, the Panthers leading scorer during the season, started the game hot with 11 points in the first half. William & Mary's defense, though, held Mendez to just three second half points.

"The basketball gods smiled back at us today," said William & Mary head coach Tony Shaver, who was named CAA Coach of the Year on Thursday.

Shaver's Tribe had lost six of their last seven games coming into Friday's action.

"It's unbelievable how one shot can lift and your spirits and carry us into tomorrow," Schneider said.

William & Mary will play No. 4 seed Old Dominion at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.  

Tigers trounce Hofstra  

 

Though they made a valiant effort in the second half, Hofstra University just couldn't hold off Towson University 's powerful offense in the Tigers 81-66 first round victory. 

 

An extremely aggressive Towson defense effectively shut down Hofstra's primary shooter Antoine Aguidio in the first half, limiting him to an unusually low two points. Though Aguidio came back in the second half to score an impressive 25 points, Towson's shooters came out with equal bravado in the half.

 

Towson guard Josh Thornton and forward Tony Durant came out on fire in the second scoring a combined game total 42 points. C.C. Williams also exploded in the second half pulling down 14 points, though 10 were from the free throw line.

 

Though Towson's secondary long-range shooter Jonathan Pease pulled down three treys in the first half, he was shut down in the second and left the game with only nine points.

 

After making only 13.8 percent of its field goals in the first half, Hofstra stepped up their offensive effort in the second half with a 62.1 percent average but ended the game much like it started the game - lots of sloppy shots and bad ball handling.

 

No. 9 Towson advances to play No. 1 Virginia Commonwealth University in the quarterfinals tomorrow at noon. 

Photos by John Tatum.