After the Hofstra Pride topped the UNCW Seahawks in the opening round play-in game, Saturday was quarterfinal action in the 2014 CAA Tournament at Baltimore Arena. Here's a breakdown of what went down.
No. 1 Delaware Blue Hens 87, No. 8 Hofstra 76
The Pride started off Saturday with a bang, jumping out to an 8-3 run and even took a 21-13 lead with 12:27 remaining in the first half. But after Zeke Upshaw picked up his third foul and had to go to the bench, Delaware stormed back and trimmed Hofstra's lead to 40-37 at halftime. Davon Usher (28 points) was big for the Blue Hens in the first half and Jarvis Threatt picked up the scoring load in the second half, finishing with 22 points on 8-13 shooting. In the game's final 20 minutes, the Pride simply looked like a team that played the night before played against a team that was well rested.
No. 4 Drexel Dragons 81, No. 5 Northeastern Huskies 90
Drexel and Northeastern squared off in each school's respective regular season finale on March 1, with the Huskies taking a 50-46 come from behind win over the Dragons. This time it was different, Northeastern took a 14-13 lead on a Scott Eatherton free throw with 10:31 left in the first half and never looked back. Eatherton played like a guy pissed that he was robbed of an All-CAA First Team nod, finishing with 23 points and 15 rebounds. Zach Stahl poured in 19 points and 12 rebounds off the bench and David Walker scored 18 points. T.J. Williams chipped in 12 points as well. The Huskies shot an uncharacteristicly blistering 51.9 percent from the field in their best offensive showing of the season.
No. 2 Towson Tigers 80, No. 7 James Madison Dukes 71
One day after Jerrelle Benimon was named CAA Player of the Year for the second season in a row, the senior forward chipped in 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Tigers. Sophomore guard Four McGlynn drilled four three-pointers off the bench for his game-high 21 points. Mike Burwell and Marcas Damas combined to scored 31 points, too. JMU hung around thanks to 45 points from sophomores Andre Nation, Charles Cooke and Ron Curry.
No. 3 William & Mary Tribe 70, No. 6 College of Charleston Cougars 59
Marcus Thornton and Brandon Britt each scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Tribe past the Cougars. In a matchup of the most efficient offense in the conference in William & Mary and the most affective defense in the conference in Charleston, the Tribe's offense prevailed. The Cougars put up a good fight in their CAA Tournament debut. But ultimately, we jinxed Canyon Barry (3 points) and Charleston couldn't come up with enough offense to hang in the game.
What in the world happened to CAA rock fights?