Weekend Observations from the R-I-C

Three days down in Richmond….one to go.

The Aeropostale CAA Men’s Basketball Championship will be decided between the 1-seed Virginia Commonwealth University and the 6-seed, last year’s Cinderella-dejour, George Mason.

This isn’t the first time these two have met in the CAA Title game either. Only four years ago, VCU narrowly defeated George Mason for Jeff Capel’s first-and-only CAA Title on a free-throw from Jesse Pellot-Rosa and a narrow miss on a Jai Lewis fadeaway attempt.

So how’d they get here this year?

Friday Observations
Admittedly absent from the day’s action, there were still plenty of reasons to be in attendance at the Richmond Coliseum for each of the four games. Georgia State took down William & Mary after a nail-biting finish which included a 3-point play by the Tribe with less than 5 ticks to go to take a 1-point lead AND then a fumbling-35 foot prayer by the Panthers’ sophomore star Leonard Mendez to win. Northeastern mercifully ended Delaware’s putrid season rather swiftly following the dramatics. In the night-session, expected winners Towson and George Mason took care of pesky opponents UNC-Wilmington & Just Missed UVA. Fortunately, for everyone in attendance, the UNC-Wilmington Seahawk no longer does a 30-second dance to the chorus of N’Sync’s Bye Bye Bye.

Saturday Observations
50% attendance was a better showing for the big guy. VCU sprinted to an early double-digit lead over Georgia State, withstanding one minor run before cruising to a spot in the semi-finals. Drexel wasted little time, riding CAA Defensive Player of the Year Frank Elegar throughout, in dispatching Northeastern. Old Dominion slipped up early with Towson, but held on late for a rather unconvincing 58-55 victory (farewell Gary Neal). George Mason struck their first major upset of the tournament, taking down 3-seed Hofstra behind solid outside shooting and Hofstra’s gunner Aguido being left all alone in the corner for a potential overtime-forcing trey at the buzzer. Not the end to Lenord Stokes' CAA-career he must have envisioned just a few nights earlier.

Sunday Observations
100% attendance. Every second. Boo ya. VCU, despite two offensive fouls for star point guard Eric Maynor in the first four minutes, took an impressive 10-point halftime lead against the rival Dragons. Despite Bruiser’s complaints for excessive contact, VCU’s press dogged the Dragons and aided in a lead inflating to as many as 18 points with 15 minutes to go. Drexel would cut the lead down to as low as 8 as VCU scored a whopping 2 points over the next 10 minutes. However in the end, VCU made enough key shots and BA Walker sunk several free throws to allow the Rams to become the first entrant into Monday Night’s title game. VCU’s press continues to impress, yet their problem with ball-handling, particularly sans-Manor, led to countless turnovers in a sloppy second-half. Drexel’s student section should be commended for a valiant effort, especially following several of Elegar’s monster jams, but were left with thoughts of the NIT lingering, rather than 100% confidence for an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Further proof why I believe that Domonic Mejia is the most overrated player the CAA has seen in several years. George Mason stormed the court early and often against the Lady Monarchs, who seemed lazy and unmotivated for the majority of the game. After a 10-2 opening run, aided in large part by early 3s from Dre Smith and Folarin Campbell, Mason never looked back as they cruised to a double-digit lead only five minutes into the game. At no point could ODU trickle the lead closer than 6 , as the Patriots made just enough free throws (Will Thomas was abysmal at times from the ‘charity strip’) to clinch their second upset victory of the tournament. Coach Larranaga should be praised for an outstanding effort, as well as great ball-handling from the duo of Jordan Carter & Gabe Norwood. Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas put together a pair of 3-point plays to seal any last-gasp run from the seemingly overmatched and outworked Monarchs.

So there we have it. Our Aeropostale CAA Men's Basketball Championship game.
#1 VCU vs. #6 George Mason.

A lot of talk has already begun regarding the at-large chances for Drexel and ODU. Both have strong claims, but admittedly took big blows this weekend (especially ODU for their performances in both games). VCU, who is nowhere near a lock to win the title tomorrow night, staked another win against Drexel (both of their wins over the Dragons this year were away from the Siegel Center) which aided their strengthened at-large claim. Ironically enough, George Mason may yet again sneak into the Big Dance and become a very dangerous out.

Predictions? VCU…will show up. And they’ll win. It might not be pretty, but I seriously wonder if Dre Smith can have a similar outing like he had tonight. What’s the key you ask? It’s got to be two things in my not-so-humble opinion: the ball-handling from George Mason against the VCU press and VCU needing to take an early lead so juniors Michael Anderson and Will Fameni can attempt to keep up with the savvy and tournament-tested Will Thomas. Should be a lot of fun either way. And you know...Clement shall be there.