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Halftime: Northeastern vs. James Madison

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 9:23 PM

It’s been a marathon day of basketball, though not much of a day for offense. We’re unsure how many of the fans have stayed for all four sessions, but they should get some sort of ribbon if they have. Also some exercise. They should definitely get some exercise.

With 20 minutes left in this one Northeastern is solidly in command, leading James Madison 38-25 in front of a partisan crowd for the Dukes. Northeastern took charge midway through the half, scoring on 3-point baskets and with fast breaks off JMU turnovers. The Huskies have also done a much better job of avoiding foul trouble as the teams head to the locker room.

Halftime also means it’s time for tonight’s final mascot showdown, the puppy bowl. To keep the spirit of the event (and because the batteries died in our camera), football pictures will be used from each school’s website.

“Duke Dog” the James Madison Duke:
Pros:
-Clearly a tougher dog than the husky.
-At about eight feet tall, he’s tonight’s tallest mascot.
-Twelve pack chest the result of non-stop workouts or failure to iron.

Cons:
-Unoriginal name.
-Crown looks like a beret; French things aren’t intimidating.
-Might be violating public leash laws.

“Husky” the Northeastern Husky:
Pros:
-Appears to know all the cheers and participate, instead of just dancing goofily.
-Has a rally towel.
-Huskies can handle the ice-cold climate of the Richmond Coliseum.

Cons:
-Equally unoriginal name.
-Has a rally towel.
-Appears to be smirking at all times.

No winner in this one, they’re just too similar.

One final break for us, then we’ll enter the home stretch. If anybody has been reading this blog for 10 consecutive hours, you also deserve a ribbon. If you’re looking at this tomorrow and scan all the posts in about five minutes, you get a bigger ribbon.

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First half: Northeastern vs. James Madison

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 8:34 PM

4:34, Northeastern leads 25-20 And now the whistles come out. The pace of this game grinds to a halt the teams have now combined for 18 fouls. Timeout is called by JMU. Abdulai Jalloh stays in the game with two fouls, Juwann James sits with three. For the Huskies, only Chris Alvarez has two, he’s currently on the bench.

7:42, Northeastern leads 18-16 James Madison is not afraid to let the shots fly, they’re 6 of 18 right now. Northeastern is selecting more carefully, going 8 of 12, though none of those points have been scored in the paint.

12:10, Northeastern leads 11-9 The Huskies come out in a man-to-man defense, as to the JMU Dukes. It’s going to be a dogfight, and that’s not a prediction, just a very bad pun.

15:58, James Madison leads 5-4 Northeastern’s Chris Alvarez misses a pair of free throws, which, as we learned in the last game, can be costly.

18:01, James Madison leads 3-0 The computer ate the pregame report (due to user stupidity), so let’s jump right into the action as No. 6 Northeastern takes on No. 11 James Madison. The crowd is highly partisan towards the Dukes, who are playing in slick gold uniforms. It’s a strong start for JMU as Abdulai Jalloh hits a 3-pointer.

Tonight’s winner gets No. 3 George Mason tomorrow in the 8:30 p.m. game.

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Postgame: Delaware 60, Drexel 51

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 7:43 PM

After a tightly-contested first half, Delaware kept its poise while Drexel did not. Turnovers and foul shooting made the difference as the Blue Hens win, 60-51. They’ll face UNC-Wilmingon tomorrow at 6 p.m. Delaware’s Herb Courtney left the court with an injury with two minutes to play, returned, and fouled out of the game. The Blue Hens were led by Marc Egerson’s 15 points. Courtney had 14, and Alphonso Dawson had 13.

Postgame comments:

Delaware:

Coach Monte Ross: Anytime you get an opportunity to play a rivalry game in the tournament, it’s never easy. I thought Bruiser has done a tremendous job with those guys, and my hat goes off to them. I thought it was a very hard-fought game between two rivals, and we were very fortunate to make plays at the end. I thought our defense was spectacular. We wanted to slow down Frank Elegar, who really hurt us in the games earlier this season.

I think you do get a little tighter when you get to this point in the season, and it’s going to take a little while to get adjusted. We came over here and shot twice, but nothing prepares you for those game conditions.

I give Jim a lot of advice. I don’t know if he always listens to me. (laughs) When you’re playing against a player like Frank Elegar you can’t stop him, you just try to slow him down. I thought Jim did an excellent job in the second half of holding him to two points.

Marc Egerson was in a boot from practice yesterday until gametime today. But its that time of year, he sucked it up, and I don’t think anybody could tell he was injured. Adrenaline can get you through lots of things.

The last five minutes of practice Thursday he tweaked it. He knew something was wrong, so he left practice. We put him in a boot right away to keep him off it. He didn’t do any shooting today, didn’t do the walkthrough, but I thought he played like nothing happened.

Guard Marc Egerson:We just wanted to stay confident and try to make a couple plays at the end. Jim came up with a huge block, he made his free throws and I made my free throws. Those were big.

Everybody was thinking [it would be close]. Every night is a dogfight. We just tried to stay confident and keep making plays.

Forward Jim Ledsome: The second time we played them at Delaware I had a block at the end of the game. He’s got a great right-hand hook, and its tough to block with his length, but I got my timing right. It turned out to be a big play for us.

Drexel:

Coach Bruiser Flint:We missed 11 foul shots, and they made a lot of baskets on loose balls. And we made 11 of 22 foul shots. That sums it up right there. You’ve got to do the little things sometimes.

We made them take some tough shots, and they came up with the rebounds. We had been playing good defense, we just hurt ourselves by not coming up with the rebounds.

Center Frank Elegar: They made adjustments [in the second half]. I was trying to get it out to run the offense, but it didn’t happen.

Forward Randy Ovenke: It’s been a tough season for us. A lot of frustration and disappointment. But I blame it on us. We didn’t come ready at times, and these are the results.

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Second half: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:50 PM

7.5, Delaware leads 56-51 Marc Egerson hits both free throws, and Drexel misses a three. An intentional foul from Drexel’s Gerald Colds will end this game.

18.4, Delaware leads 54-51 Amazingly, Delaware does not get the wake-up call. The Blue Hens squander their possession, but Drexel’s shot is blocked on the other end. With the shot clock off, Drexel has no choice but to foul.

1:29, Delaware leads 54-51 A pair of threes by Gerald Colds combined with Delaware turnovers is just what Drexel needed. They’ve cut the lead to three with 1:29 remaining. But they have no timeouts and two players with four fouls. The margin for error is razor-thin right now. Sign unveiled by the Drexel students: “Do you know what the best thing about Delaware is? Neither do we.“

3:54, Delaware leads 51-41 Drexel isn’t falling any further behind, but they’re also not catching up. The Dragons have gone 9 of 20 from the free-throw line with 16 turnovers, little things that will cost them the game. The winner gets No. 2-seed UNC Wilmington.

7:39, Delaware leads 47-38 Delaware is by no means blowing Drexel out, but the Blue Hens have scored 12 points off the Dragons turnovers, enough to very slowly swing this game their way. If Drexel doesn’t make a couple big plays, Delaware will be able to run out the clock to end this one.

11:32, Delaware leads 43-33 Alphonso Dawson sits with three fouls, leaving Delaware without its leading scorer. But the Blue Hens take advantage of a pair of turnovers and create their biggest lead of the night. Drexel coach Bruiser Flint has spent most of the media timeout arguing with the officials, who have thus far been patient with him.

15:40, Delaware leads 37-30 Drexel hits a three, but Delaware has the answer from Alphonso Dawson. Then Dawson missed a 3-pointer that would’ve given his team a 10-point lead, and slid into the bench. Coach Monte Ross picked him up and gave him an shove towards the defensive end of the court. Ross could trick-or-treat as Tiki and Ronde Barber’s third brother.

18:06, Delaware leads 35-30 What a difference the possession arrow makes. Delaware had the ball, made a shot and then got a quick defensive stop. Now they’re the ones who will be defending a lead as the second half opens. Drexel called timeout to stop the momentum.

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Second half: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:50 PM

18:06, Delaware leads 32-35 What a difference the possession arrow makes. Delaware had the ball, made a shot and then got a quick defensive stop. Now they’re the ones who will be defending a lead as the second half opens. Drexel called timeout to stop the momentum.

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Halftime: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:43 PM

It’s halftime and after watching teams sit on the ball all morning, the fans have been treated to some offense. The Blue Hens lead the Dragons 28-25 at the break.

Delaware is led by Alphonso Dawson’s 10 points, which he picked up before getting his second foul early in the half. For Drexel the leader is Frank Elegar with 13 points. The stats remain nearly identical across the board, and neither team is surrendering an inch inside. Should be a fun second half in this fast-paced game.

As we head backstage to refuel on Mountain Dew, let’s take a look at two personalities that don’t need a halftime break - tonight’s mascots:

“YoUDee” the Delaware Blue Hen:
Pros:
-Wearing number 00 tonight, a refreshing change from every other mascot, who wears No. 1.
-Blue Hens easily the best-named team in the state.
-Wears size 28FF shoes.

Cons:
-The Delaware Turnpike - $5 to drive 5 miles.
-There could be confusion when the team ‘lays an egg.‘
-YoUDee sounds too much like YouHoo, and we will hold the beverage’s horribleness against the mascot.

“Mario” the Drexel Dragon:
Pros:
-Inevitably nicknamed ‘Super Mario.‘
-Fire-breathing ability would trump any other mascot’s strength.
-Brought most of the student body with him.

Cons:
-Does not actually exist.
-Has probably watched “Lord of the Rings” one too many times.
-Fitting through standard-sized doors is difficult.

This is clearly is premier mascot matchup of the night. The edge goes to YoUDee the Blue Hen on originality, though Mario the Dragon would’ve advanced out of any of the other brackets.

Second-half action coming up shortly. We’re going to call the boss and see if we can liveblog the Jonas Brothers here next Tuesday.

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First half: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 6:02 PM

3:58, Tied at 24 Delaware forward Pau Geli draws his third personal foul. Guard Alphonso Dawson is sitting with two fouls, as is forward Jim Ledsome. Both teams are knocking the other around inside, keeping the rebounding battle even at 10 each. The game is tied for the seventh time tonight.

7:45, Delaware leads 18-16 Drexel’s Scott Rodgers goes in for a layup and extends his foot in a kicking motion, knocking down Delaware’s D.J. Boney. The stats look almost identical across the board as each team continues its fast-paced attack.

11:38, Drexel leads 13-11 Get ready for a slugfest as these two teams go right at each other. Drexel is shooting less but making more - mostly because Delaware is 1 for 5 from behind the arc.

15:40, Delaware leads 9-6 We’ve got a high level of athleticism on display early. Both teams look comfortable in a run-and-gun offense, a nice change from the early games.

17:27, Delaware leads 7-4 The closer vantage point becomes intense in a hurry. Times-Dispatch writer John Packett flawlessly fields an errant ball headed in his direction. JP’s a guy whose skills will only improve as he gets more touches. Also we have a stat monitor down here so we can pass along all sorts of insight.

Looks to be another small crowd for this one, though the Drexel students are noisy and on their feet.

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Pregame: Delaware vs. Drexel

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 5:59 PM

It’s time for the evening session, and we’ve moved into Times-Dispatch columnist Bob Lipper’s seat. Surprisingly, he was given a better seat than the inRich.com live blogger.

The temperature courtside is a crisp 42 degrees, and while we exaggerate, we do so only slightly. It feels like a Renegades game, except there aren’t Hooters billboards everywhere.

And with that we welcome you to the CAA After Dark blog, where the humor is always edgy. Feel free to leave your comments and questions in the box below.

The first game tonight is No. 7 Delaware vs. No. 10 Drexel. Both teams were able to conduct a full warm-up because of the time between games. The Drexel students are here, and they’re chanting at the other side: “Where are your fans?“

Should be a good one. Let’s get it started.

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CAA Blog Break

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 5:05 PM

Time for us to rest our typing fingers as we prepare for the evening games. We’ll be back in an hour with Delaware vs. Drexel.

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Postgame: William and Mary 58, Georgia State 57

Michael Phillips

March 07, 2008 4:46 PM

A thrilling conclusion as David Schneider hits a game-winning buzzer beater to get revenge on Georgia State. The Panthers did the same thing to eliminate the Tribe in 2007. Even the Old Dominion players who seemed more engrossed in their music than the game took off their headphones and nodded in approval at the conclusion. From the interview room, here are the postgame comments:

William and Mary:

Coach Tony Shaver: The basketball gods smiled back at us today. The one thing we did really well today was continue to battle. I thought we were pretty doggone good defensively. We weren’t great at rebounding, but we kept battling.

I’ll tell you one thing: we wanted the ball in David Schneider’s hands. I’ve said it before, but I’ll take 15 David Schneider’s and play the world. I’d also like a little size, though.

The last three weeks I think we’ve been saving up all our shots for this weekend. I think that will to win was displayed down the stretch.

Guard David Schneider: I kept re-thinking about the shot last year that beat us. The coaches said to try to take it to the rim if you can, but I felt like the three was going to be there, so I took it.

Coach drew a great play out of the timeout. I was going to come off of a screen in the middle.

I definitely feel that as a team, we have more of a will to win last year. We’re known as the comeback kids, as we showed tonight. Also, we have great leadership. I think as a team we’re really coming together.

Forward Danny Sumner: I always thought we were in the game and we had a chance. We hit a great shot at the end.

Georgia State:

Coach Rod Barnes: It was a game that went back and forth. I thought for the most part we were playing better than they were. We just put them on the free-throw line too many times. You just can’t come win tournaments with unforced turnovers and too many free throws. It’s unfortunate for our guys to get to this point and feel like we’re playing as good as we have been and then the season ends.

It’s disappointing today, but I’m proud of how our kids played.

We tried to pick them up full-court, and that’s how you play them. The kid pulled up and made a great shot. We didn’t want to foul because we thought that anything would go against us.

Guard Leonard Barnes: It’s tough because we played hard and it came down to the last shot. Give them credit for playing hard and coming out with the win.

It’s tough. We played hard throughout the game and we just fell short at the end.

Center Deven Dickerson I just went out there and told myself to play hard every play, be mean. That’s what I went out and did. As a team we played hard, and it just didn’t happen.

It was satisfying to go out there and play hard, because that’s been a struggle this past year.

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