RICHMOND (WTVR) – JMU’s injury-filled season came to and end in the first round of the CAA tournament on Friday as they lost to UNC-Wilmington 70-59.
Madison was led by Humpty Hitchens who had 12 points, but four Seahawks scored in double figures led by Cedric Williams who had 22 points and 7 rebounds.
Georgia State set a CAA tournament record for margin of victory in beating Hofstra 85-50 and Delaware got by Towson 72-65.
The following is a game recap from the CAA of William and Mary’s loss to Northeastern:
Freshman Quincy Ford scored a game-high 18 points as seventh-seeded Huskies held off 10th-seed William & Mary, 57-49, in the first round of the Virginia 529 CAA Men’s Basketball Championship.
Northeastern (14-16) advances to Saturday’s quarterfinal round and will face second-seeded VCU at 6 p.m. at the Richmond Coliseum.
Tim Rusthoven led W&M (6-26) with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Ford was the difference for Northeastern, which also got 11 points from Jonathan Lee and 10 from Joel Smith to avenge a 25-point loss to the Tribe in Williamsburg on Feb. 11.
After shooting 1-for-8 from behind the arc in the first half, Northeastern came out blazing and drilled four consecutive three-pointers to build a 12-point lead. Lee and Smith knocked down treys, before Ford connected on back-to-back three-pointers to give the Huskies a 39-27 advantage with 16:36 remaining.
The momentum shifted when Lee fouled out with 10:38 on the clock, as W&M methodically chipped away at the deficit. Julian Boatner hit a three-pointer, and Rusthoven’s blocked shot on Ford led to a Marcus Thornton lay-up at the other end that trimmed the Northeastern lead to seven.
Boatner canned another three and a pair of free throws, before Quinn McDowell’s three-point play with 6:27 remaining pulled W&M within three, 46-43. W&M would get no closer, however, as the Huskies came up with several clutch offensive rebounds and timely free throws down the stretch.
Reggie Spencer extended two Northeastern possessions with offensive boards and pushed the lead back to nine, 52-43, on a jumper with 3:40 remaining. Ford hit 3-of-4 at the line in the final minute to set the final margin.
Northeastern outrebounded W&M, 42-27, which included 14 on the offensive end. Spencer led the Huskies with 10 rebounds and Ford finished with seven.
Northeastern used its interior size advantage and built an early 10-point lead behind six points from Ford. A putback by Black with 8:18 remaining in the first half gave Northeastern a 20-10 edge. At the other end, Rusthoven kept the Tribe in the game with six points on 3-of-5 shooting, while his teammates combined for a 1-for-10 start from the field.
W&M shook off the sluggish start and outscored the Huskies, 12-5, over the final six minutes of the opening half. The Tribe also turned up the heat on the defensive end, limiting Northeastern to one field goal in the last eight minutes of the first half.
Rum and Kendrix Brown hit three-pointers and the Tribe trailed, 25-22, at the break, before Northeastern’s three-point barrage to open the second half.
Thornton finished with 10 points to give the Tribe two in double figures, and Boatner added eight off the bench.
