FINAL: Tribe 47, Northeastern 45
For a box score, click here.
A three-pointer from senior guard David Schneider gave William and Mary a 47-45 lead with 37 seconds to go against Northeastern Sunday night and the Tribe’s defense held its own from there, defeating the second-seeded Huskies by the same margin. With the win, the College advances to its second CAA Final in three years and is set to face Old Dominion Monday night at 7 p.m. in the Richmond Coliseum.
The Tribe took a 31-17 lead into halftime, only to see the Huskies open the second frame on a 20-6 run to knot the score at 37-37. Northeastern took its first lead with three minutes to play after Matt Janning connected on two free throws giving the Huskies a 43-42 edge. Junior forward Marcus Kitts answered moments later to put the Tribe back in front before the Huskies found a way to retake the lead at 45-44 with under one minute remaining. Despite being held scoreless for the first 39:23 of the game, Schneider drilled a three-pointer to put the College ahead and secure the Tribe’s 22nd victory of the year.
Northeastern missed four shots in the final seconds allowing the College to face ODU in the CAA Finals. The top-seeded Monarchs beat VCU in overtime earlier in the day to claim a spot in the championship round.
Check back soon for complete coverage of tonight’s game.
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The Flat Hat is live, courtside at the Richmond Coliseum with all the action from the CAA semifinals. Tune in for VCU vs. ODU at 3 p.m., followed by the College taking on Northeastern at 5:30.
Click below to follow, and chime in with your questions and comments all afternoon.
What to expect:
The key match-up to watch tonight will be the Tribe’s defense against the play of Northeastern’s standout First Team All-CAA guards Chaisson Allen and Matt Janning. In Williamsburg, Shaver pulled his forwards out a bit and used them to guard that pair a little more tightly. It worked perfectly, as they faltered early and allowed the College to build a 16-point lead, which they would just barely hold on to courtesy of a Kendrix Brown jumper with 3.8 seconds left to secure the 53-52 victory. The College will need to contain Janning and Allen again tonight if it hopes for a repeat win.
The Huskies went double-overtime with Hofstra last night in a very tight game, only to emerge with a 74-71 victory. They should ostensibly be a little more tired than the Tribe. The College won last night 70-64 after JMU and Denzel Bowles ran out of gas late. That same factor will be something to keep an eye on as the game moves along.
On the year, Northeastern finished second in the CAA boasting one of the top defensive units, allowing 60.5 points per game. That defense, paired with the conference’s second-ranked field goal percentage offense at 45.4 percent, has propelled the Huskies to its first 20-win mark since 2004-2005.