CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - DEC. 31
Drexel 64, Saint Joseph's 52
Boxscore
Philadelphia ? The Drexel men’s basketball team closed out 2008 with a 64-52 win against Saint Joseph’s. The Dragons opened up a 21-point lead in the second half and defeated the Hawks in front of a crowd of 5,631 at the Palestra.
Drexel (4-6) took the lead for good at the end of the first half. The Dragons had the last possession, but were unable to get the ball inside. The ball got back to Jamie Harris, who drained a long, desperation three-pointer from just inside the hash mark to give the Dragons a 30-28 advantage. The Dragons scored the first seven points of the second half and the Hawks (5-7) could get no closer than five points the rest of the way.
The Dragons’ defense held Saint Joseph’s to only six field goals and 22 percent shooting in the second half. The Hawks scored just nine points in the first 16 minutes of the second half as the Dragons’ lead swelled to 58-37. The lead could have been bigger, but Drexel shot just 57 percent from the line in the second half. Saint Joseph’s tried to make it a game, and got the lead to single digits at 58-50 with 1:07 to play, but Drexel free throws gave Drexel its third win in the last five games against their cross-town rivals. Saint Joseph’s entered the game leading the series, 43-7
Scott Rodgers led the way for the Dragons with 18 points. Jamie Harris added a career-high 16 points, seven rebounds and was 5-for-7 from the line. Evan Neisler tied Rodgers for the team lead with eight rebounds. Tasheed Carr led Saint Joseph’s with 19 points. Ahmad Nivins added 16 points and eight rebounds.
William & Mary 67, Harvard 54
Boxscore
Williamsburg (12/31/08) - In the first-ever match up between the oldest academic universities in the United States, the William and Mary men’s basketball team won its final game of 2008, downing Ivy League foe Harvard, 67-54, on Wednesday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. The College, which was established in 1693, placed four players in double figures and used a late 16-2 run in the second half as well as a stout defensive effort to tally the 13-point victory over the Crimson in a New Years’ Eve matinee. W&M won its second straight in improving to 5-6 on the season, while Harvard, which was founded in 1636, dropped to 6-6.
Junior guard David Schneider led the Tribe with 16 points on the afternoon. Freshman forward Quinn McDowell turned in the first double-double of his collegiate career scoring 13 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Senior forward Chris Darnell finished with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor to go along with seven rebounds, while junior Alex Smith tallied double figures for the second straight contest with 10 points and seven rebounds in 12 minutes of action. Senior forward Peter Stein also turned in a solid stat line for the College, pulling down eight rebounds and finishing with a team-high five assists.
W&M hit seven of its first 10 shots from the floor over the opening 10 minutes of the contest to jump out to a seven-point advantage, 19-12. The Crimson responded with a 13-0 run to open its largest lead for the game at 25-19. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Dan McGeary and Peter Boehm started the Harvard run, and reserve guard Max Kenyi gave the Crimson its first lead of the contest at 21-19 with a conventional 3-point play. Another McGeary bucket and two Crimson free throws made it 25-19 with 6:36 remaining.
W&M took the momentum to the locker room, finishing the half on a 19-3 run to retake the lead. Back-to-back W&M hoops from Darnell and McDowell cut the Harvard lead to 25-23, before Kenyi answered with a triple from the left corner at the 4:47 mark. It was all Green and Gold from that point in the first half as the College finished the opening 20 minutes with 14 straight points to take a nine-point cushion to the locker room.
After a floater from sophomore guard Matt McFadden, McDowell scored five straight points, including a conventional 3-point play, to help W&M retake the lead, 30-28. Junior wing Danny Sumner and Schneider hit back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the lead to eight points, before a Kendrix Brown free throw with 35 seconds remaining sent W&M to the intermission with a 37-28 lead.
W&M maintained its nine-point advantage through the opening seven minutes of the second stanza. The Tribe led 42-35 following a pair of McDowell free throws at the 11-minute mark, before the Crimson clawed their way back into the game. Three straight trifectas from Harvard sandwiched around a W&M basket pulled the Crimson even at 44 with nine minutes remaining.
A Chris Darnell conventional 3-point play on a drive along the left baseline put the Tribe back on top, 47-44. Harvard scored four straight points to take its first lead of the second half at 48-47 following a 3-pointer from the left side by McGeary. Schneider answered for the Tribe with a three of its own to start a 10-0 W&M run. Smith scored five points on the spurt, including the final two on free throws, giving the Tribe a 57-48 lead with 4:23 remaining.
Harvard would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way, and Darnell extended the W&M cushion to double digits for good with back-to-back dunks. His second jam was a reserve off a dish from Stein and gave the College a 61-50 lead with 2:52 remaining. Stein capped the victory with a two-handed stuff for the final 67-54 margin.
The Tribe turned in an impressive defensive effort against Harvard, limiting the Crimson to just 35 percent (21-of-60) from the floor and 30.4 percent (7-of-23) from 3-point range. Harvard entered the game leading the Ivy League in both categories at 46.9 percent from the floor and 41.9 percent from 3-point range. The Crimson’s 3-point field goal shooting ranked 17th nationally.
Leading the defensive charge for the College was the play of freshman guard Kendrix Brown and Stein. Brown drew the assignment of All-Ivy League guard Jeremy Lin and helped in limiting him to just nine points on 3-of-12 from the floor and 1-of-4 from 3-point range. Lin entered the game ranking third in the Ivy League at 18.6 point per game to go along with shooting percentages of 51.9 from the floor and 48.8 from 3-point range. Stein finished with a pair of charges taken on the afternoon, while all eight of his rebounds came on the defensive end.
W&M shot 43.6 percent (24-of-55) from the floor and once again dominated the glass. The College outrebounded its fifth opponent over the last six games, pulling down 50 rebounds to just 26 for Harvard. Six different Tribe players finished with five or more rebounds as the College finished with 50 rebounds for the first time since 2006. W&M was also 15-of-21 (71.4 percent) from the charity stripe in the victory. Smith led the W&M effort at the line, connecting on 6-of-7.
N.C. State 88, Towson 68
Boxscore
RALEIGH, N.C. ? The Tigers were hoping to ring in the New Year in a winning style when they faced ACC foe North Carolina State on Wednesday afternoon. However, the Wolfpack spoiled the Tigers’ celebration plans by handing Towson an 88-68 loss at the RBC Center.
The loss dropped the Tigers’ record to 5-8 on the season while the Wolfpack ended the 2008 portion of their schedule with a 9-2 record.
Junior guard Josh Thornton and sophomore forward Jarrel Smith paced the Tigers in the loss by scoring 22 and 20 points, respectively. Thornton matched a season high by nailing six three-point baskets and was 7-for-14 from the field overall. Meanwhile, Smith was 6 of 13 from the field and tallied his second straight “double double” with a team-high 11 rebounds.
“We played extremely well in the first half, but had a few miscues at the end of the half,” Towson Coach Pat Kennedy said. “Our kids played extremely hard, but they came out and picked us apart in the second half.
“The final score was not indicative of how hard or how well we played today,” he added.
However, the Tigers were unable to find an answer for sophomore forward Tracy Smith. Smith, who entered the game averaging 8.2 points per game, torched the Tigers for a career-high 31 points as he went 10-for-15 for the field and was perfect in 11 trips to the foul line.
After spotting the Wolfpack a quick 5-0 lead, the Tigers led for most of the first half until N.C. State used an 8-0 run to end the first half for a 46-41 advantage at the intermission. The Tigers used strong outside shooting during the opening period, making 6 of 13 three-point tries.
Meanwhile, the Wolfpack were nearly perfect from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes, making 17 of 20 attempts. They also converted 48.5 per cent (13-27) of their field goal tries.
The Tigers opened the second half by closing to within 48-46 in the first 90 seconds of the period before the Wolfpack erupted for seven straight points, expanding their cushion to 55-46 and forcing Coach Kennedy and the Tigers to take a timeout.
With a Thornton three-pointer later in the period, the Tigers closed to within 58-54, but N.C. State held the Tigers in check and continued its strong effort in the second half, leading by as many as 16 points with 6:14 left on a pair of free throws by Tracy Smith.
The Tigers were unable to get any closer than 12 points the rest of the way as the Wolfpack ended the game with a 9-1 spurt.
While Tracy Smith paced the Wolfpack, Brandon Costner added a “double double” with 15 points and 10 assists while three other Wolfpack players scored in double figures.
Sophomore Robert Nwankwo added six points and six rebounds in a losing effort for the Tigers, who were finishing a four-game road trip.
Memphis 80, Northeastern 48
Boxscore
The Memphis Tigers forced 25 turnovers and received 27 points from Tyreke Evans to defeat the Northeastern men's basketball team 80-48 Wednesday afternoon at FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn.
The Huskies fall to 6-5 while the Tigers improve to 10-3. Manny Adako led the Huskies with 16 points on 7-of-7 shooting. Northeastern as a team shot
36 percent from the field, but did not have many opportunities due to Memphis' forceful full-court press.
The Huskies played strong early on, opening up on a 12-4 run. Adako dominated with 11 of the team's first 14 points. He opened the scoring with a jumper at 18:59. He then followed with his second career three-pointer at 16:44, a long bucket from the top of the key. He hit a jumper at 15:19 and then slammed a home a dunk on a pass from Chaisson Allen at 14:51. NU had an 11-4 lead and had forced three early Memphis turnovers.
Memphis cut NU's lead to two, 14-12, after Evans' three-pointer at 12:10, but the Huskies found their shooting rhythm as Allen drained a three-pointer at 11:23, Lima followed with a three of his own in the left corner at 10:33 and then Matt Janning took the ball to the hoop with a layup at 10:06.
Memphis took a timeout with the Huskies leading 22-15.
However, that was when the game took a turn in Memphis' favor as the Tigers went on a 15-0 run that included a bizarre squence when the two teams got into an altercation on the court. Adako was charged with a technical foul and Memphis made both free throws.
Northeastern finally broke the run when Evans was charged with a technical foul of his own and Janning connected on the free throws. Nkem Ojougboh then dunked the ball home to close the deficit to four, 30-26.
But the Tigers finished off the half with an 8-0 run to go into the break with a 38-26 lead.
In the second half, the Huskies continued to struggle with Memphis' full-court pressure, committing 14 turnovers, most coming as they tried to in- bound the ball or bring it up the court. The Huskies were no closer than 10 points in the second half.
Memphis uncharacteristically was solid from the free throw line, making 31 of 35 attempts for a 88.6 percentage. Coming into the game, the Tigers were shooting just 65.6 percent from the charity stripe.