NORTHEASTERN DEFEATS HOFSTRA, 82-74, TO CAPTURE CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP - Mar 13, 2019
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 12, 2019) - Northeastern used a dominant first-half performance and a strong finish to defeat top-seeded Hofstra, 82-74, and capture the 2019 CAA Men's Basketball Championship, presented by Jersey Mike's Subs. It was the second CAA title in the past five years for the second-seeded Huskies (23-10), who earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Hofstra, which fell to 27-7, will compete in the NIT after claiming the CAA regular-season title. Senior Vasa Pusica (6'5''-G-95) received tournament Most Outstanding Performers honors after draining 7-of-12 threes and scoring a team-high 21 points. He led a balanced scoring effort as all seven Huskies who took the floor scored at least nine points. Bolden Brace (6'6''-G) nearly recorded a triple-double with 10 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and nine assists, and NU got 11 points apiece from Shawn Occeus (6'4''-G), Jordan Roland (6'1''-G-97) and Tomas Murphy (6'9''-F-98). Hofstra was once again paced by CAA Player of the Year Justin Wright-Foreman (6'1''-G-97), who poured in a game-high 29 points. Wright-Foreman, who set the tournament scoring record with 42 points in the semifinals, broke the CAA record for points in a season with 919. Elijah Pemberton (6'5''-G) added 15 points and forward Jacquil Taylor (6'10''-F-95) had eight points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Northeastern was clicking on all cylinders in the opening half. Offensively, the Huskies shot 53.6% from the floor, including 7-of-15 from three, while limiting Hofstra to just 28.1% FG shooting. NU was up by just three midway through the period before going on a 21-8 run capped by a Donnell Gresham Jr. (6'1''-G-97) layup that made it 36-20 with 3:19 to go. The Huskies took a 42-26 advantage into halftime. Hofstra came out of the locker room and quickly changed the momentum. The Pride went on a 12-2 surge over the first 3:30 and pulled within 44-38 on a Wright-Foreman layup. Northeastern built the lead back to 10, 54-44, on a Pusica trey with 13:12 to go. However, the Pride answered with 10 consecutive points and tied the game at 54-54 on a pair of Taylor free throws with 9:13 remaining. Pusica took over from there, hitting a 3-pointer to put the Huskies back on top and then adding two more treys during the 17-6 surge that gave Northeastern a commanding 71-60 lead with 3:58 to play. Hofstra pulled as close as 71-66 with 2:03 left, but Northeastern converted 8-of-10 free throws in the final 1:05 to end the comeback. Northeastern shot 50% from the floor for the game and made 14-of-31 from beyond the arc. Hofstra finished at 39% from the floor, despite hitting 51.9% of its attempts in the second half. Pusica was joined on the CAA All-Tournament team by Occeus, while Hofstra was represented by Wright-Foreman and Taylor. Rounding out the squad were Charleston forward Jarrell Brantley (6'7''-F-96) and Delaware guard Ithiel Horton (6'3''-G).
All-Tournament MVP: Vasa Pusica (6'5''-G-95) of Northeastern Player of the Year: Justin Wright-Foreman (6'1''-G-97) of Hofstra Defensive Player of the Year: Desure Buie (6'0''-PG) of Hofstra Rookie of the Year: Camren Wynter (6'2''-G) of Drexel Sixth Man of the Year: Sheldon Eberhardt (6'5''-G-95) of Elon Dean Ehlers Leadership Award: Paul Rowley (6'8''-F) of William & Mary Athlete of the Year: Tyler Seibring (6'9''-F-96) of Elon Coach of the Year: Joe Mihalich of Hofstra
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