HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – There is a lot left to play out over the final 12 days of the Coastal Athletic Association’s regular season, but five teams helped themselves – and in some cases – sent a message on a busy Thursday night in the CAA.
The Top Tier Stays in Position
At the top, the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks continued to find a way as the Charleston Cougars kept pace.
First-place UNCW (23-4, 12-2) was given all it could handle against the feisty Monmouth Hawks, and trailed by two points at home,
but the Seahawks haven’t won more than 85% of their games both overall and in the CAA for nothing. As it has done for much of the season, UNCW yet again made winning plays down the stretch, making six of its last ten shots (after starting just 16-for-46). The Seahawks ended on a 25-13 spurt over the final 7:54 to win, 79-69, while remaining the top standard the CAA has to offer as UNCW aims to defend its CAA tournament title from last year.
“Our championship DNA kicked in,” head coach Takayo Siddle said proudly.
Six of eight Seahawks who played scored in double figures as UNCW showed why it’s still the CAA’s toughest team to put away.
Meanwhile, second-place Charleston (18-10, 11-4) initially did what was expected in taking a 23-point second-half lead at 12th-place North Carolina A&T. With UNCW at one point, down eight in the second half, it looked like the Cougars could gain a game and move to within just a half-game of first place. But as UNCW rallied, Charleston suddenly had to hold off a fierce North Carolina A&T rally just to eventually keep pace with the Seahawks. Charleston’s earlier big lead shrank to only four with just under eight minutes left before a 16-5 run finally helped to secure a 74-61 victory. The win kept the Cougars multiple games ahead of the third spot and within two games in the loss column of UNCW in challenging for the CAA’s top seed.
Sneaking Up and Doing it with Defense
The Hofstra Pride were in third place the prior time they played, after dropping a four-point game at UNCW last Saturday, but that didn’t last long. Hofstra (18-10, 9-6) quickly fell into a fourth-place tie after a Monmouth Hawks win on Saturday night moved Monmouth ahead of the Pride and into third place.
But Hofstra is once again back in the third spot after showing the type of defense – along with some very good offense – it will need to compete for a title while dismantling the Hampton Pirates, 79-43. The win moved the Pride to 15-1 this season when allowing fewer than 70 points and to 11-0 when allowing 64 points or less.
”I thought we really defended,” Pride head coach Craig “Speedy” Claxton, who will seek his 100th career coaching win at Northeastern on Saturday, said. “We knew that they were going to drive the basketball at us, so that was a big focus. We had to guard the basketball, and then the other four guys had to show a great picture of help. He had to play a great team defensive game.
“Offense wins games, defense wins championships, and we want to win a championship, so we’re going to hang our hat on the defensive end,” he added.
Known for his offense, CAA scoring leader, junior guard Cruz Davis (who scored right around his season average of 21.2 points per game, with a game-high 20 points), concurred with Claxton.
“Like coach says, defense wins championships,” Davis said. “We’re trying to win a championship this year, and to do that, we’ve got to defend and rebound.”
Senior guard Biggie Patterson (12 points, game-best 11 rebounds) celebrated his birthday with his fourth career double-double (and third this season), but the Pride wasn’t able to truly enjoy itself until after Claxton called a timeout when an earlier 17-point lead shrank to eight early in the second half.
“We just had to refocus,” Claxton said. “We had to have a better start to the second half. I wanted to just reorganize and get these guys focused, because I knew that this was a game that we should win.”
Hofstra responded with an overpowering 40-12 game-closing surge, finishing the game shooting 56.9 percent (33-for-58) while allowing a CAA season-low 26.7 percent shooting (16-for-60).
Staying Relevant
In Boston, the Drexel Dragons (14-14, 8-7 CAA) were good enough in a business-like 70-61 win at last-place Northeastern. It could have been a little easier for the Dragons if their 62.5 percent free-throw shooting (15-for-24) were better, but Drexel did what it needed to move up a spot to sixth place and remain within one game of a coveted top-four spot and the chase for a double bye in next month’s CAA tournament.
Right behind Drexel, the Campbell Fighting Camels (13-14, 7-7 CAA) moved up a spot to seventh. Sophomore guard Jeremiah Johnson led the way with a brilliant 32-point, seven-rebound, seven-assist performance, but his final two points were the biggest. Johnson beat the final buzzer with a game-winning layup to give Campbell a thrilling and much-needed 84-83 win over the William & Mary Tribe. Mirroring Hofstra’s 4-0 start in CAA play, which was followed by a five-game losing streak, before the Pride had since won five of six, the Camels started 3-1 in conference play before losing five straight, and have now righted the ship with four wins in their last five games. By edging the Tribe, Campbell avoided slipping into a four -way tie (at 6-8) for eighth place. Instead, the Camels are within just one game of a possible top-four seed and an all-important double bye.
Missed Opportunities
Up eight fairly late, Monmouth could’ve put the conference on notice with a road win over the league’s top team while remaining ahead of Hofstra. Instead, the Hawks (14-13, 8-6 CAA) fell a half game behind the Pride and into a fourth-place tie with idle Stony Brook (16-11, 8-6 CAA).
One last defensive stop at Campbell could’ve put William & Mary (16-11, 7-8 CAA) into a sixth-place tie with Drexel, but the Tribe instead slid down two spots and into sole possession of eighth place.
Hampton (12-15, 6-8 CAA) never really had a chance at Hofstra, but whereas an upset win would’ve placed the Pirates into a seventh-place tie with Campbell, Hampton instead finds itself in a three-way tie (with Towson and Elon) for ninth place.
Top-Four or Bust?
After 12-seed Delaware and seven-seed Stony Brook each narrowly lost in the CAA finals over the past two years, it would be premature to automatically dismiss a team outside of the top four seeds this year. However, the CAA regular season also normally ends on a Saturday. This year, all but one CAA team will play its final regular-season game on a Tuesday, allowing for a significantly shorter length of time to rest and prepare for the CAA tournament. That could mean that avoiding a finish of fifth-place or lower, and thus, avoiding an extra CAA tournament game, could be even more important this season.
