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William & Mary, Northeastern advance to CAA Championship

In CAA semifinal action, top seeded William & Mary got by Hofstra on a buzzer beater and Northeastern outlasted UNC Wilmington to advance to Monday night's championship.

Colonial Athletic Association

It doesn't get much more exciting than the first semifinal game in the CAA Tournament on Sunday.

William & Mary and Hofstra treated fans to two overtime periods, a CAA Tournament single-game scoring record and a game-winning three with less than one second remaining.

The Tribe topped the Pride, 92-91, on a corner three from sophomore Daniel Dixon in the most exciting CAA game of the season.

You wouldn't be wrong if you thought that William & Mary's CAA player of the year Marcus Thornton would take the final shot for the Tribe, but Thornton showed his maturity by finding the open teammate for a much better look than he could have gotten. The Pride ran a double team at Thornton and he found the wide open Dixon in the corner.

Thornton set the CAA Tournament scoring record with 37 points, while teammate Omar Prewitt scored 33 points, including going 12-for-18 from the foul line.

Hofstra held a five-point lead with under two minutes left in regulation, but Thornton singlehandedly tied the game at 73 with a three-point play and two free throws with 23 seconds on the clock. Moussa Kone missed at the regulation buzzer for Hofstra.

The Tribe turned the tables on the Pride in the first overtime, taking a five-point lead in the opening minutes. The Pride responded with a 7-0 run to take a two-point lead. With 42 seconds on the clock, Thornton drilled a three to draw even at 83, setting up the second overtime and Dixon's heroics.

In the second matchup of the day, Northeastern used a late, second-half run to get past UNCW, 78-71.

Northeastern took a three-point lead into halftime, but it was midway through the second half that the Huskies rode big man Scott Eatherton's hot hand. After UNCW drew within two with 10 minutes remaining, Eatherton scored eight points in three minutes to give the Huskies some breathing room.

The Seahawks closed their deficit to three on a long ball by Craig Ponder with a minute and a half left, but Northeastern responded with a three of their own from Caleb Donnelly and the Seahawks would never draw any closer.

Eatherton finished with 21 points for Northeastern, while Jordon Talley led UNCW with 18 points.

This sets up a championship matchup between the Tribe and Huskies, who split the regular season series with each team winning on their home floor.