Seahawks have company atop CAA, for now

RICHMOND, VA (CAA) — We have notes from the CAA in regard to men’s basketball in the league.

 THREE-WAY TIE ATOP CAA STANDINGS: College of Charleston, UNCW and Northeastern are locked in a tie atop the CAA standings at 4-0 after the first 10 days of league play. The Cougars have a 4-0 conference mark for the first time since 2010-11, the Seahawks have a 4-0 CAA record for the first time since 2001-02 and the Huskies are 4-0 for the first time since 2012-13.

UNCW RANKED #24 IN LATEST RPI REPORT: UNCW is ranked #24 in the latest RPI rankings released by Collegiate Basketball News (rpiratings.com) through games of Jan. 8. The Seahawks (15-2) have captured 12 of their last 13 games, with the only loss coming on the road at ACC foe Clemson. College of Charleston (13-4) is #53 in the RPI and has won 10 of its last 11 contests, with the only setback coming on the road at SEC member LSU. Northeastern (11-5) has moved up to #77 after extending its win streak to a season-best seven games, which includes road wins at Michigan State, Vermont and Oakland. Only eight other conferences (American, ACC, Atlantic 10, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac 12 and SEC) have three schools in the top 77 of the RPI. The CAA is ranked #11 among the nation’s 32 Division I leagues.

NORTHEASTERN SETS CAA MARK FOR 3-POINTERS: Northeastern set a CAA record for three-pointers in a game with 21 in Thursday’s victory over Delaware. The Huskies went 14-of-18 in the first half and finished 21-of-33 from beyond the arc. The previous CAA treys record was 20, set by VCU in 2010 and Navy in 1990. On the same night, Elon sophomore Steven Santa Ana tied a school record for threes in a game by going 9-of-11 from beyond the arc at William & Mary. The nine threes are tied for the third-most in CAA history.

UNCW RECEIVES VOTES IN NATIONAL POLLS FOR THIRD STRAIGHT WEEK: For the third week in a row, UNCW was among others receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The Seahawks (15-2) got three points in the Jan. 9 poll after getting one point last week. The Seahawks received 12 points this week in the USA Today Coaches poll, which placed them 29th overall in the rankings.

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS: Along with the performances turned in by CAA Players of the Week Joe Chealey and Ryan Daly, there were numerous other impressive weeks recorded around the league. Hofstra guard Justin Wright-Foreman averaged 25.0 ppg over three games, including a career-high 30 points vs. William & Mary. UNCW guard Denzel Ingram averaged 20.7 points and 6.3 assists in UNCW’s 3-0 week, while backcourt mate C.J. Bryce contributed 19.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest. Northeastern guard T.J. Williams continued his outstanding year, averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 assists and 5.0 rebounds in three Huskies’ victories. William & Mary guard Daniel Dixon averaged 28.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in a pair of Tribe wins, including 32 points vs. Elon.

W&M’s PREWITT AMONG SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATES: William & Mary senior guard/forward Omar Prewitt is one of 30 candiates nationally for the men’s basketball Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes student-athletes in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The list will be trimmed to 10 in February and the winner will be announced at the Final Four.

College of Charleston

•  Off to their best overall start since 2003-04 after victories over Delaware (65-56), Towson (62-57) and Hofstra (77-71). Have won five in a row and 10 of their last 11 games.

•  Joe Chealey scored a career-high 31 points vs. HU, a team-best 22 points vs. TU and 19 points at UD. He’s tallied double figures in 7 straight games and ranks 5th in the CAA in scoring (15.9 ppg) and 8th in assists (3.1).

•  Jarrell Brantley posted his 4th double-double (19 pts/13 reb) vs. TU. He’s scored double digits in 28 of his past 31 games and is 3rd in the CAA in rebounding (8.2 rpg).

•  Freshman Grant Riller scored 17 points vs. Hofstra and added 10 points at UD. He reached double figures seven times.

•  Freshman Chevez Goodwin grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds at Delaware.

•  CofC has held 14 of 17 foes under 70 points and leads the CAA and ranks 9th nationally in scoring defense (59.8 ppg).

•  The Cougars lead the nation in 3-point FG defense (26.8%).

Delaware

•  Fell to CAA leaders CofC (65-56), Northeastern (90-54) and UNCW (91-81) last week.

•  Ryan Daly scored a career-high 28 points vs. UNCW and had a team-best 20 points vs. CofC. He’s tallied double digits in 8 of his last 9 games and tops UD in scoring (12.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.8 rpg).

•  Daly’s 28 points vs. UNCW were the 4th-most ever by a UD freshman. He has four 20-point outings in the past nine games.

•  Chivarsky Corbett tied a season-high with 18 points vs. UNCW and averaged 12.3 ppg for the week.

•  Cazmon Hayes scored a team-high 13 points at NU and 11 points against UNCW.

•  Skye Johnson chipped in 12 points off the bench on 5-of-6 FG shooting at NU. It was his second double-figure game of the year.

•  Anthony Mosley had 15 points and a season-high 6 assists vs. UNCW. He’s 2nd in the CAA in steals (1.7 spg), 10th in assists (2.9 apg) and 25th in scoring (10.6 ppg).

Drexel

•  Edged 75-70 in OT by Northeastern and lost 90-72 to UNCW last week.

•  Rodney Williams tallied team-highs of 20 points and 9 rebounds vs. NU and posted his 3rd double-double (17 pts/11 reb) vs. UNCW. He has seven 20-point efforts this season and ranks 3rd in the CAA in scoring (16.8 ppg) and 5th in rebounding (7.1 rpg).

•  Miles Overton added 13 points off the bench vs. NU and 11 against UNCW, which was his 4th straight double-digit effort. He’s averaging 14.2 ppg over the 4-game stretch.

•  Austin Williams scored 11 points on 5-of-8 FG shooting vs. NU. He’s shooting 61.5% from the floor for the season and is also 4th in the league in rebounding (7.4 rpg).

•  Freshman Kurk Lee chipped in 11 points vs. UNCW. He ranks 10th in the CAA in scoring (13.9 ppg) and 4th in assists (5.1 apg).

•  Freshman Kari Jonsson (9.6 ppg) ranks 4th in the CAA with 2.3 threes per game and is shooting 42.9% from beyond the arc.

•  John Moran was 4-of-7 from 3 at UNCW.

Elon

•  Topped Towson (72-61) on Saturday after dropping road games at UNCW (79-63) and William & Mary (88-85) last week.

•  Steven Santa Ana scored a team-high 29 points and tied an Elon record by going 9-of-11 from 3 at W&M. He added a team-best 15 points vs. TU and has tallied double digits in seven of his past nine games.

•  Brian Dawkins had 13 points and 7 rebounds at UNCW, 11 points at W&M and 10 points vs. TU. He’s scored double digits in 8 straight games and is shooting 54.1% from the floor and 53.3% (24-45) from 3.

•  Tyler Seibring scored a team-best 15 points at UNCW and had 9 points and 9 boards against Towson. He’s averaging 13.4 ppg over the past five games and is 9th in the CAA in rebounding (6.5 rpg).

•  Dainan Swoope scored 15 points at W&M, 12 at UNCW and 12 vs. Towson. He’s reached double digits 10 times.

•  Elon made a season-high 16 threes at W&M and 10 at UNCW, which was its 8th game with at least 10 treys. Elon averages 9.8 treys per game, which tops the CAA.

Hofstra

•  Fell 95-93 (ot) to William & Mary, 62-54 to JMU and 77-71 at CofC last week.

•  Justin Wright-Foreman had a career-high 30 points with 8 rebounds vs. W&M, a team-best 25 points vs. JMU and 20 points at NU. He’s averaging 21.3 ppg in the last 6 games.

•  Freshman Eli Pemberton scored a team-high 21 points at CofC. It was his fifth game with 20+ points and 12th in double digits.

•  Rokas Gustys posted his CAA-best 6th double-double (10 pts/11 reb) vs. W&M and had 12 rebounds vs. JMU. He ranks 2nd in the nation in rebounding (12.8 rpg) and has 12 games with 10+ boards.

•  Ty Greer came off the bench to scored 13 points in 18 minutes at CofC. He was 3-of-4 from 3-point range.

•  Brian Bernardi tallied 18 points vs. W&M, including the 1,000 point of his HU career.

•  Hofstra has made 10 or more threes in nine games and is shooting 38.7% from beyond the arc.

James Madison

•  Got off to their best CAA start since 1994-95 after defeating Towson (64-44) and Hofstra (62-54), but had their 4-game win streak snapped at Northeastern (64-54).

•  Jackson Kent hit 4-of-7 threes and scored a team-high 23 points vs. Towson and added 11 points at HU and NU. He’s averaging 18.4 ppg over his last five games and is three points shy of 1,000 for his career.

•  Paulius Satkus scored 13 points on 6-of-7 FG shooting at HU and chipped in 9 points at NU. He’s averaging 13.0 ppg over his last five games and is 27-of-38 (71.1%) from the floor over that stretch.

•  JMU’s defense held Towson to a season-low 44 points on 32% FG shooting and Hofstra to a season-low 54 points 34.7% shooting.

•  Joey McLean had 10 points and 5 steals at HU and a team-best 12 points at NU.

•  Yohanny Dalembert scored a team-high 16 points on 7-of-11 FG shooting at NU.

•  JMU ranks 2nd in the CAA in rebound margin (+5.2 rpg) for the year.

UNCW

•  Off to a 4-0 CAA start for the first time since 2001-02 after wins topping Elon (79-63), Drexel (90-72) and Delaware (91-81) last week. Have won 12 of their last 13 games.

•  Denzel Ingram had 17 points and 6 assists vs. Elon, 22 points at DU and 23 points and 8 assists at UD. He hit 16-of-33 threes for the week. He leads the CAA with 3.3 3’s per game, is 2nd in assists and 7th in scoring.

•  C.J. Bryce posted his first career double-double (19 pts/11 reb) vs. Elon and scored a career-high 27 points at UD. He has tallied double figures in 13 straight games and ranks 2nd in the CAA with 17.8 ppg.

•  Devontae Cacok had double-doubles at DU (22 pts/14 reb) and UD (16 pts/10 reb). He’s 49-of-54 from the floor over the last 8 games and leads Div. I in FG percentage (82.8%). He’s 2nd in the CAA with 9.6 rpg.

•  Chris Flemmings averaged 16.7 ppg in the the three games last week. He’s reached double digits in 19 of his last 22 contests.

•  UNCW leads the CAA in turnovers forced (16.8), turnover margin (+5.2) and steals.

Northeastern

•  Extended win streak to seven by beating Drexel (75-70 ot), Delaware (90-54) and JMU (64-54) last week. Off to a 4-0 CAA start for the first time since 2012-13.

•  T.J. Williams scored a team-high 24 points at DU, a team-best 21 points vs. JMU and posted a double-double (18 pts/11 ast) vs. UD. He’s tallied double digits in all 16 games with 10 20+-point efforts. He tops the CAA in scoring (21.1 ppg) and assists (6.0 apg).

•  Alex Murphy had 20 points and 9 rebounds at DU and added 15 points vs. JMU. He has five 20-point outings this season. Murphy is 9th in the CAA in scoring (14.7 ppg) and 5th in FG percentage (51.9%).

•  Freshman Shawn Occeus hit five treys and scored a career-high 17 points against UD.

•  Freshman Max Boursiquot grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds at Drexel.

•  Freshman Bolden Brace hit 5-of-6 threes and had 15 points and 8 boards vs. UD.

•  All five Northeastern losses this season have been by six points or less.

Towson

•  Suffered road losses at JMU (64-44), CofC (62-57) and Elon (72-61) last week.

•  Deshaun Morman scored a team-high 13 points at Elon, which was his 9th game in double digits. He also made two steals and leads the CAA with 1.8 spg for the season.

•  William Adala Moto scored a team-high 15 points at CofC and grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds at JMU.

•  John Davis added 11 points at Elon. He has five double-doubles this season and is 6th in the CAA in rebounding with 6.9 rpg.

•  Freshman Justin Gorham had career-highs of 8 points and 7 rebounds at JMU and also grabbed 7 rebounds in 12 minutes at Elon.

•  Eddie Keith snared a career-high 10 rebounds at CofC.

•  Towson has out-rebounded 33 of its last 36 foes. The Tigers top the CAA in rebound margin (+6.8 rpg).

•  Towson leads the CAA in FG percentage defense (40.1%) and ranks second in scoring defense (67.5 ppg).

William & Mary

•  Edged Hofstra 95-93 in OT on Daniel Dixon’s 28-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer and rallied past Elon, 88-85, last week.

•  Dixon scored a team-high 25 points with 6 boards at HU and followed with 32 points and 8 rebounds vs. Elon. He’s tallied double figures in 8 straight games and is averaging 28.0 ppg in his last 4 outings.

•  Omar Prewitt contributed 21 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists at HU. He has five 20-point efforts in the past 10 games.

•  David Cohn posted his 2nd double-double at Hofstra with a season-high 11 points and a career-best 12 assists. It was the most assists by a W&M player since 1998.

•  Jack Whitman averaged 10.0 ppg in the two games last week on 8-of-11 FG shooting. He’s shooting 64.4% for the season.

•  W&M made 11-of-27 treys at HU and 10-of-23 treys vs. Elon. W&M is 2nd in the CAA with 9.5 threes per game.

•  Greg Malinowski had 11 second-half points and a season-high 7 rebounds vs. Elon.