RICHMOND — Wow! The William & Mary Tribe in the CAA championship?
Yeah they were the No. 5 team in the tournament and crazier things have happened in March, but this is truly memorable stuff.
Not only has the Tribe never won the CAA tournament in 22 years, but it's never even played in the title game.
After winning the tournament last year and beating Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament, it seemed a foregone conclusion that VCU would repeat after going 22-6 in the regular season. Well at least I was pretty sure they'd be playing tomorrow night on ESPN.
But the Rams will now have to wait it out and see if the committee thinks they're worthy enough for an at-large bid. Non-conference wins over Maryland, Houston and Bradley might help, but a semifinal loss to No. 161 W&M in the RPI — who is 0-5 against the top 100 — could dash any hopes and send them to the NIT.
And it all might be because of the clutch play of W&M senior forward Laimas Kisielius. The 6-foot-8 Lithuanian native, who made only third-team All-CAA, played like a first-teamer with his game-high 23 points including the game-winner on a runner with three seconds left in the game.
Sophomore Danny Sumner chipped in 19 points for CAA Head Coach of the Year, Tony Shaver, and gave VCU's Eric Maynor, the conference player of the year, some of the toughest defense he could handle.
Maynor finished with a team-high 16 points including four 3-pointers, but was unable to get his hands on the ball for the game's last shot.
The Tribe will try to continue its impressive run with a fourth win in as many games tomorrow night against the winner of George Mason and UNC-Wilmington. At halftime Mason leads UNCW 31-25.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Northeastern 73, JMU 55
For final analysis of the game and JMU basketball check out my article and Matt McGovern's at thebreeze.org.
Friday, March 7, 2008
LIVE:In Game- JMU 25, NU 38 at Half
Northeastern is shooting 54 percent through the first 20 minutes to JMU's 39. Juwann James has seven and Terrence Carter and Abdulai Jalloh each have six, but no Duke has established himself as a clear threat to the Huskies' zone or man-to-man pressure.
NU's Manny Adako leads all scorers with 12 points with his 5-for-8 shooting from the field. Eugene Spates has also provided a spark of the bench for NU with two 3-pointers.
Like much of the season JMU has struggled to defend the perimeter. Both teams reached the bonus as James has picked up three fouls and four other Dukes have two. Adako and fellow post player Chris Alvarez have two for the Huskies.
JMU needs to create a turnover frenzy in the next 10 minutes to make this a capable ball game down the stretch.
NU's Manny Adako leads all scorers with 12 points with his 5-for-8 shooting from the field. Eugene Spates has also provided a spark of the bench for NU with two 3-pointers.
Like much of the season JMU has struggled to defend the perimeter. Both teams reached the bonus as James has picked up three fouls and four other Dukes have two. Adako and fellow post player Chris Alvarez have two for the Huskies.
JMU needs to create a turnover frenzy in the next 10 minutes to make this a capable ball game down the stretch.
LIVE: In Game Blog- CAA First Round No. 7 Delaware vs. No. 10 Drexel. Final.
Delaware 60, Drexel 51
In the end it was junior forward Jim Ledsome that made the difference on both ends of the floor for the Hens.
With 31 seconds left and Delaware only holding on to a three-point lead, the Dragons went to their star player Frank Elegar in the post. The big man's turn-around was blocked cleaning by Ledsome. Ledsome then converted a three-point play on a flagrant foul after Tramayne Hawthorne missed a 3-pointer -- Drexel's last shot.
Delaware will play No. 2 UNC-Wilmington in the quarterfinals.
In the day's previous two games, No. 5 seed William & Mary held seed over No. 12 Georgia State with a last second shot by the Tribe's David Schneider.
The sophomore hit a pull-up jumper from the top of the key with 1.5 seconds remaining. The 3-pointer gave W&M a 58-57 victory and quarterfinal matchup with No. 4 Old Dominion.
No. 9 Towson started the day with an 81-66 win over No. 8 Hofstra. The Tigers had to hold off a late rally by The Pride and senior Antoine Agudio. The first-team All-CAA selection scored 27 points in his collegiate finale.
Towson junior Tony Durant provided much-needed energy for the Tigers and finished 20 points just two behind team leader Josh Thornton's 22. Towson will play the No. 1 seed VCU in the quarters.
In the end it was junior forward Jim Ledsome that made the difference on both ends of the floor for the Hens.
With 31 seconds left and Delaware only holding on to a three-point lead, the Dragons went to their star player Frank Elegar in the post. The big man's turn-around was blocked cleaning by Ledsome. Ledsome then converted a three-point play on a flagrant foul after Tramayne Hawthorne missed a 3-pointer -- Drexel's last shot.
Delaware will play No. 2 UNC-Wilmington in the quarterfinals.
In the day's previous two games, No. 5 seed William & Mary held seed over No. 12 Georgia State with a last second shot by the Tribe's David Schneider.
The sophomore hit a pull-up jumper from the top of the key with 1.5 seconds remaining. The 3-pointer gave W&M a 58-57 victory and quarterfinal matchup with No. 4 Old Dominion.
No. 9 Towson started the day with an 81-66 win over No. 8 Hofstra. The Tigers had to hold off a late rally by The Pride and senior Antoine Agudio. The first-team All-CAA selection scored 27 points in his collegiate finale.
Towson junior Tony Durant provided much-needed energy for the Tigers and finished 20 points just two behind team leader Josh Thornton's 22. Towson will play the No. 1 seed VCU in the quarters.
LIVE: In Game Blog- CAA First Round No. 7 Delaware vs. No. 10 Drexel.
Approaching the midway point in the second half, Delaware has begun to open it up with defensive adjustments.
Early in the half the Hens went to a 2-3 zone that enabled them to double down on Elegar more and really disrupt the rhythm he attained in the first half. Drexel has tried to counter with high-low post looks to draw Delaware's second post defender out of the baseline.
At the 12:50 mark he took a breather with only one point in the half.
Delaware's Herb Courtney has also started asserting himself on the low block and has eight points in the second half.
At the under 12:00 media timeout Delaware leads the Dragons 43-33.
Early in the half the Hens went to a 2-3 zone that enabled them to double down on Elegar more and really disrupt the rhythm he attained in the first half. Drexel has tried to counter with high-low post looks to draw Delaware's second post defender out of the baseline.
At the 12:50 mark he took a breather with only one point in the half.
Delaware's Herb Courtney has also started asserting himself on the low block and has eight points in the second half.
At the under 12:00 media timeout Delaware leads the Dragons 43-33.
LIVE: In Game Blog- CAA First Round No. 7 Delaware vs. No. 10 Drexel. Halftime.
Delaware has scrapped its way to a 28-25 advantage through the first 20 minutes of its first round game with Drexel.
The Blue Hens are led by freshman guard Alphonso Dawson's team-high 10 points. It was junior guard Marc Egerson that gave the Hens the spark at the end of the half scoring all six of his points in the final seven minutes.
Senior Frank Elegar of Drexel leads all scorers with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Elegar has made three of his five free-throw attempts, but the Dragons have made just 6-of-14 as a team. Delaware has managed to shoot only four from the stripe and will need to get Elegar and the Dragons in foul trouble if this game stays close.
The Blue Hens are led by freshman guard Alphonso Dawson's team-high 10 points. It was junior guard Marc Egerson that gave the Hens the spark at the end of the half scoring all six of his points in the final seven minutes.
Senior Frank Elegar of Drexel leads all scorers with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting. Elegar has made three of his five free-throw attempts, but the Dragons have made just 6-of-14 as a team. Delaware has managed to shoot only four from the stripe and will need to get Elegar and the Dragons in foul trouble if this game stays close.
LIVE: In Game Blog- CAA First Round No. 7 Delaware vs. No. 10 Drexel
The headline name in the third matchup of the day is second-team All-CAA selection Frank Elegar. The 6-foot-9 senior center is leading the 12-19 Dragons with eight points as Drexel leads 15-14 with over 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Elegar provides a tough draw for Delaware forwards Herb Courtney and Jim Ledsome because of his height as well as his athleticism. The two teams split wins in the two previous Colonial Athletic Association meetings this season, with the Blue Hens winning on the road by four and the Dragons also winning on the road by two.
The game is a physical man-to-man battle at this point but Delaware could be in trouble if they don't get Elegar off the block.
Elegar provides a tough draw for Delaware forwards Herb Courtney and Jim Ledsome because of his height as well as his athleticism. The two teams split wins in the two previous Colonial Athletic Association meetings this season, with the Blue Hens winning on the road by four and the Dragons also winning on the road by two.
The game is a physical man-to-man battle at this point but Delaware could be in trouble if they don't get Elegar off the block.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
