CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - JAN. 5
George Mason 58, Georgia State 52
Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. (January 3, 2009) ? The George Mason men’s basketball team used a 16-4 run in the closing minutes on Monday evening to push past Georgia State and win a battle of first-place Colonial Athletic Association teams as Mason beat the Panthers, 58-52 at Patriot Center. Darryl Monroe was 7 of 8 from the field and he finished with his third double-double of the season as Mason improved to 3-0 in the CAA, 7-0 at home and 10-3 on the year. Georgia State is 2-1 in the CAA and 4-10 on the year.
Cam Long had a game-high 18 points and he tied his career high with nine rebounds. Monroe finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Patriots outrebounded Georgia State 37-29. The Panthers were led by Leonard Mendez and Xavier Hansbro who each had 16 points.
After falling behind 9-2, the Patriots used a 21-4 run to take control of the game. Darryl Monroe had eight points in that stretch while Cam Long had six as Mason overcame three early 3-pointers by the Panthers. Mason used defense to create turnovers and after letting Georgia State open the game 3 of 6 from the field, they limited the Panthers to 2 of their next 11. The Panthers finished the half strong and Mason went into the break with just a slim, 27-21 lead.
Georgia State came out strong in the second half while the Patriots seemed to lack any energy. The Panthers used that to their advantage, as a 10-4 run to open the half tied the score at 31-31. Georgia State finally retook the led on Goldston’s basket inside that made it 38-36 with a little more than eight minutes to play.
Down 40-37, Mason struck quickly. First Andre Cornelius drained a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down. Then Monroe came up with a block that triggered a fastbreak layup for Dre Smith. After the Patriots forced a Georgia State miss, John Vaughan drove to the basket for an uncontested layup and a 44-40 Mason lead with 5:19 to play.
Later, with a 45-42 lead, Smith again made a fastbreak layup and after his free throw attempt missed, he tracked down the rebound and found Cam Long for a 3-pointer to make it 50-42 with under three minutes to play. From there Mason was able to keep enough of a cushion to hold off the Panthers.
James Madison 66, Drexel 60
Box Score
HARRISONBURG, Va., Jan. 5, 2009 ? Senior forward Juwann James (Jacksonville, Fla./Raines) scored 24 points, including 18 in the second half, as James Madison turned a seven-point deficit with nine minutes remaining into a 66-60 win over Drexel in a Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball game on Monday night at the Convocation Center.
JMU picked up its first CAA win to improve to 1-2 in the league and 9-6 overall. Drexel fell to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the CAA while having a three-game road winning streak snapped. The Dukes picked up their first head-to-head win against the Dragons in 13 tries, including 12 meetings since Drexel joined the conference in 2001.
Drexel led by as many as 12 in the first half at 23-11 with 5:15 remaining and took a 29-23 advantage into intermission. The Dragons were up 46-39 with 8:57 left in the game when the Dukes started to chip away.
A five-point run cut it to two at 46-44 with 6:55 left. JMU went on to take its first lead since the first basket of the game at 53-52 with 3:44 on the clock. Drexel went back in front and led 58-57 when freshman guard Devon Moore (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) found James in the paint for a dunk with 44 seconds remaining. Another James dunk, this time from freshman forward Julius Wells (Toledo, Ohio/Libbey), with 27 seconds left extended the lead.
Tramayne Hawthorne missed a three-point jumper from the left wing for Drexel, and sophomore guard Ben Louis (Melbourne, Australia/St. Francis Xavier) hit one of two free throws for a four-point advantage at 62-58.
On the ensuing Dragons’ possession, Louis committed his fifth foul on Evan Neisler, who hit both free throws to cut it to two. However, senior forward Kyle Swanston (Spring Hill, Fla./Hernando/Worchester Academy) hit a pair of foul shots and the Dukes added a Wells dunk at the buzzer after Hawthorne missed another three with six seconds left.
James scored 24 points to match the career high that he set at Towson on Saturday. He recovered from two for seven shooting in the first half to knock down seven of 10 attempts in the second half for 18 points. Eleven of his points came during JMU’s 27-14 swing in the final nine minutes. James added seven rebounds and two steals.
Wells and Moore were also in double figures for JMU with 11 and 10 points apiece. Moore added three assists.
Neisler scored a career-high 22 points for the Dragons with nine rebounds. He shot nine for 13 from the floor after entering the game with a previous high of 15 points. Hawthorne chipped in 10 points, all in the first half.
The Dukes shot 53.6% (15-28) in the second half after hitting only 7 of 19 shots (36.8%) in the first half. Both teams struggled from the arc as Drexel hit four of 18 (22%) and JMU knocked in three of 11 (27%). DU held a 39-32 edge in rebounds after a 23-11 advantage in the opening period.
Northeastern 73, Hofstra 50
Box Score
The Northeastern men's basketball team's defense put up another stellar effort, forcing 25 Hofstra turnovers and holding the Pride to 38 percent shooting as the Huskies cruised to a 73-50 win Monday night at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern, which has won five of its last six games, improves to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the CAA for the first time since joining the conference in 2005. The Huskies are also three games over .500 for the first time under head coach Bill Coen. Northeastern is one of just two teams in the CAA that are still undefeated.
The Huskies never trailed as they got off to a quick start, capitalizing on seven Hofstra turnovers in the first 4:09 of the game. NU had an 11-0 run to begin the game, led by three baskets from Manny Adako.
Eugene Spates also helped give the Huskies a big cushion with a trio of three-pointers in the first half.
Meanwhile, Hofstra was plagued by turnovers and fouls in the first half. The Pride turned the ball over 17 times that led to 16 NU points and committed 14 fouls that led to 17 NU free throw attempts. The Huskies had their largest lead of the first half, 17 points, after an Nkem Ojougboh free throw at 4:14.
Northeastern went into the half with a 33-18 lead with Adako scoring 12 of the team's 33 points.
In the second half, it was more of the same as the Huskies opened up a 27-point lead, 51-24, with an 18-4 run to start the half, which was punctuated by Chaisson Allen stripping Greg Johnson of the ball and going coast-to-coast for a fastbreak layup. After Hofstra's Dane Johnson dunked the ball home, Nkem Ojougboh then wowed the crowd with an alley oop dunk off a pass from Matt Janning.
Hofstra never got closer than 19 points.
All in all, the Northeastern defense continued to shine, holding its opponent to 50 points or less for fourth time this season, three out of the last four games. The 25 turnovers forced are the most since Cal State Northridge had 29 against NU during the 2005-06 season.
Individually, the Huskies were led by Adako, who had 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Ojougboh had 13 points and eight rebounds, Janning had 10 points, three assists and three steals and Allen Aragbaye had 11 points off the bench. Chaisson Allen had a well-rounded game with eight points, eight rebounds, six steals and five assists.
All 13 Huskies played at least three minutes in the game.
Towson 62, Delaware 61
Box Score
NEWARK, Del. ? For the first time since joining the Colonial Athletic Association the Tigers are off to a 2-1 start in league play thanks to a gutsy performance Monday night in the Bob Carpenter Center where the Tigers stunned Delaware with a 62-61 victory.
The victory pushed the Tigers to 7-8 on the season and 2-1 in the league, marking the first time Towson has posted a winning mark after its first three CAA games since joining the conference eight years ago. The loss dropped the Blue Hens, who had won five of their previous six games including victories over Toledo and pre-season CAA favorite Virginia Commonwealth, to 7-8 and 1-2 in the CAA.
Early on the Blue Hens found a soft spot in the Towson zone underneath where 6-9, 240 lb. Jim Ledsome had a field day on the dunks. Ledsome, whose career high was 13 points, scored 12 in the first 20 minutes on slams to help Delaware keep the Tigers at bay. He finished the game with 14 points on 7 for 9 shooting.
There were five lead changes and five ties before Delaware charged ahead 18-13 when Alphonso Dawson tallied six of seven points in a 7-0 run midway through the session..
Delaware forged a six-point lead (22-16) with 8:42 left but the Tigers tightened things up and eventually trailed by three, 30-27, at the break.
The Blue Hens started the second half hot, hitting two treys that quickly opened the lead to 36-27. Coach Pat Kennedy used a timeout that seemed to settle the Tigers and within three minutes Towson narrowed the gap to 40-37.
Delaware increased its lead once again to eight, 54-46, at the 9:21 mark but that’s where the Tigers mounted a 12-2 stretch run sparked by a Troy Franklin three-pointer to lift Towson to its first lead in over 20 minutes, 58-56, with 1:55 remaining.
Dawson put the Blue Hens up, 59-58, with a foul line jumper with 1:05 left. Jarrell Smith then went to the free throw line courtesy of an intentional foul by Marc Egerson. Smith sank both free throws with 43.6 seconds remaining for a 60-59 Towson lead.
But Delaware came right back on its next possession when Jawan Carter got loose in the paint for a floating jumper with 13 seconds remaining.
The Tigers cleared the ball over half court where Kennedy called a timeout.
"We’d set a play up for Junior Hairtson on the baseline,” Kennedy said. “He was open but Troy couldn’t see him and took the ball to the basket himself. That’s a Baltimore guard for you. That kid made a big play at the right time.”
Franklin’s running bank shot dropped through with 2.1 seconds left. All the Blue Hens could do was try a desperation shot that missed.
Hairston, who did not start the game and was doubtful to even dress because of an illness, came off the bench to tally a game high 17 points in 23 minutes of action. Smith finished with 13 points. Franklin and Tony Durant each added 10 points.
Delaware was led by Dawson with 15. Marc Egerson, the league’s second leading scorer and the CAA’s top rebounder, finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds.
Old Dominion 62, William & Mary 50
Box Score
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Keyon Carter scored a career high 17 points and and Ben Finney added 10 points and a career high 11 boards as Old Dominion defeated William & Mary 62-50 in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup on Monday night.
Carter, who averaged eight points a game heading into the contest, was 5 of 6 from 3-point range. His final 3-pointer answered a Tribe run which had William & Mary (5-8, 0-3) within three midway through the second half.
William & Mary made just eight second half field goals.
The Monarchs (9-4, 2-1) fell behind by 10 early, but closed the gap on a 12-2 run on four 3-pointers--two each from Carter and Trian Iliadis--to tie the game at 23 at halftime.
William & Mary's leading scorer Danny Sumner (17.7 points per game) had just three points, tying his season-low, on a 3-pointer with 8:10 to play.
David Schneider led the Tribe with 17 points--11 of them coming in the first half. Ben Finney scored all 10 of his points and 10 of his 11 rebounds in the second half.
In the second half, a Marsharee Neely trey and a layup by Gerald Lee put ODU upseven,32-25 with 17:01 left in the game. ODU would lead by as much as 15, 55-40 with 3:38 left after a jump hook by Carter.
After committing 12 first half turnovers, ODU only turned the ball over three times in the second half.
Freshman Trian Iliadis scored a career high six points,while junior Marsharee Neely dished out a career high five assists alongwith six rebounds.
Gerald Lee added 12 points with seven rebounds,two blocked shots and two steals for ODU.The Monarchs dominated the boards, 40-26.
The Monarchs return to action on Wednesday night when they host James Madison at 7 p.m. in the Constant Center. The game will be televised on WSKY4 in Hampton Roads with John Castleberry and Cal Bowdler doing the play-by-play and color.
VCU 88, UNC Wilmington 59
BoxScore
RICHMOND, Va. ? Sophomore Joey Rodriguez (Oviedo, Fla.) scored a career-high 25 points and senior Eric Maynor (Raeford, N.C.) and sophomore Larry Sanders (Fort Pierce, Fla.) each registered double-doubles for Virginia Commonwealth University in an 88-59 rout of UNC Wilmington Monday at the Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.
Rodriguez connected on 8-of-10 field goals, including 5-of-7 3-pointers. The 5-10 guard scored 18 of his points in the first half as the Rams (9-5, 2-1 CAA) raced out to a 49-25 advantage and never looked back. Rodriguez added five rebounds and four steals.
Both Maynor and Sanders scored 16 points, while sophomore Brandon Rozzell (Richmond, Va.) chipped in with 10. Maynor also dished out a season-high 12 assists, his most since booking 15 Feb. 3, 2007 against Georgia State. Sanders added 10 rebounds to record his third double-double of the season
The Rams shot .525 (32-of-61) for the game, including .586 (17-of-29) in the second half. VCU also knocked down 10-of-19 3-pointers and out-rebounded the Seahawks, 43-31.
The 29-point margin of victory was VCU’s largest since a 78-45 dismantling of Longwood Dec. 15, 2007.
Kevon Moore led UNC Wilmington (3-12, 0-3) with 17 points, while Johnny Wolf added 13 for the Seahawks, who have lost nine straight.
“Thought it was a great effort by our guys tonight in the areas that we talked about specifically the last few days, which was defensively the intensity that we needed to play with and the understanding of being able to defend the 3-point line and play a 40-minute game,” said VCU Head Coach Anthony Grant.
“I’m proud of the way these guys responded after a difficult loss at Delaware, to come out and understand the effort that we need to play with. Hopefully we understand that this is the kind of effort we need to bring on a nightly basis, not once in a while or every other game or after a loss, but on a nightly basis that this is how we’re supposed to play.”