Colonial Athletic Association Tournament: Senior point guard Jose Juan Barea, the conference’s player of the year, sparked a 19-2 run to open the second half as No. 5 Northeastern thrashed No. 12 James Madison 74-56. Sophomore forward Shawn James dominated the Dukes by scoring 24 points and blocking nine shots, a CAA Tournament record. The Huskies advance to play No. 4 Old Dominion Saturday.
No. 9 Delaware beat No. 8 Drexel 52-49 in a game filled with bad shooting and turnovers (43 combined) to advance to the quarterfinals and a game against No. 1 UNC – Wilmington. The Blue Hens broke a 49-49 tie in the final minutes on sophomore guard Sam McMahon’s baseline jumper, and Delaware held on for the victory.
In the evening session, No. 10 Georgia State got 20 points and seven assists from Herman Favors and held off a furious rally by No. 7 Towson for a 72-64 win. The Panthers (7-21) shot 48.1 percent from the field in the win, while the Tigers (12-16) shot below 37 percent and were led by senior Lawrence Hamm with 22 points and 14 rebounds in his final collegiate game. The Panthers will take on No. 2 George Mason on Saturday night.
The final game of the night came down to the end, as No. 6 VCU regained the lead late and held on for a 62-59 win over No. 11 William & Mary. Eric Davis tied a career high with 18 points to lead the Rams (19-9), while William & Mary (8-20) was paced by Corey Cofield with 17 points. The Rams advance to play No. 3 Hofstra on Saturday night.
After the last game, there was a minor incident involving VCU head coach Jeff Capel. He wouldn’t say what he did, and no one could really notice what transpired at the time, but in the press conference, Capel said that after the teams shook hands, “I made a youthful, stupid mistake, and hopefully Coach Shaver will forgive me, and his staff and fans of William & Mary and their players. I was wrong, I was completely wrong for what I did. That’s all that needs to be said about it.”
[3/03/06]
