Tag: Colonial Basketball

Game 6 of 37 Hofstra @ Maryland – Maryland surges late to a comeback win 69-67

Maryland surges late to beat Hofstra 69-67, as Martinez hits winning free throws.

#CAAHoops #B1G

Maryland has scheduled some tough mid majors to start their season. Quinnipiac, George Washington, Vermont, George Mason and Hofstra. All of those teams should finish in the top half of their respected conferences. With all that said Maryland has struggled with all of them, but Quinnipiac.

Hofstra took the Terps to the brink and had a chance to win the game with a shot multiple times. The execution just wasn’t there. Omar Silverio was blocked by Eric Ayala and subsequently fouled Ian Martinez on the loose ball deflection. Martinez knocked down both free throws, and after a couple of timeouts and fouls, Fatts Russell stole the final in bounds pass to end the game.

Ian Martinez hitting go ahead free throws

Hofstra plays small ball. This forced Turgeon’s hand at not even playing Qudus Wahab the entire second half. It looks to me Maryland is best built to play fast and uptempo, then pick and choose when to enter Wahab into the picture.

Jalen Ray for Hofstra was hitting contested three’s from all over the court. He is quick with the ball and showed the ability to penetrate and find the shooters on the perimeter. A career 39% shooter from deep, Ray is someone that will be heavily relied on all season. He finished with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists and went 5-12 from three.

Zach Cooks is Hofstra’s other star player. He is in his fifth season (crazy even typing those words out) playing the previous four at NJIT. He is a flat out scorer. He can make the three, pull up from mid range and create space for himself with ease. Just super quick off the dribble. While he didn’t have a great night shooting the ability is very clear. I wish he would attack the lane more instead of all the jumpers, but maybe he knew the size of Maryland would be waiting on him. Cooks finished with 13 points and four assists.

As far as Maryland goes. Everyone chipped in a little bit here and there. The two guys that stepped up big time to me were Ian Martinez and Julian Reese. Reese has great hands and a soft touch around the rim. He fit the uptempo undersized style much better than Wahab, therefore he got more minutes. He still needs to work on his lower body strength, and the Big Ten bigs will surely test him early. He has a silky smooth mid range jumper and shows the potential to knockdown an open three. Reese had 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Ian Martinez was the X factor in this game. While he is still learning as a decision maker and taking questionable shots, he stepped up when others struggled to make plays. Martinez is a good athlete. Has the ability to create off the bounce. He is also a tough and versatile defender. Stepping up and hitting those two clutch free throws with just four seconds left should be huge for his confidence moving forward. Martinez is instant energy off the bench and its a role he looks very comfortable with. He finished with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Up next for me is American @ UMBC on Tuesday.

Game 4 of 37 Hampton @ Towson

Game 4 of 37

Towson dominates Hampton with ease

Coming into this game I had no idea what to expect. Hampton was 2-0, but there was a catch. It was against Mid-Atlantic Christian University (yes, that is a real school) and Regent University. Towson on the other hand, blew out Albany and had a respectable loss to Monmouth.

Hampton hung in there for the first ten minutes or so, until Towson went on a run and controlled the game the rest of the way. Hampton has some individual talent spread through their roster, but the cohesion doesn’t seem to be there. Maybe it will happen at some point….. I wouldn’t take that bet. Towson dominated the boards 47-28 and scored inside basically at will. The final was 78-54, in favor of Towson.

Hampton had three guys I wanted to watch specifically. Johquin “Pinky” Wiley, Najee Garvin and Mario “Rio” Haskett Jr.

Wiley who spent four years at Delaware State (God bless him) is a steady point guard. He sets the offense well. He’s unselfish. Plays the game a way a point guard should. He will shoot if open, but not often. Hampton needs to leave him on the floor all game. When he’s not, its ugly isolation, 1v1 stuff. Wiley played okay. He finished with five points, three rebounds and one assist. His presence on the floor alone is what his team needs.

Rio Haskett Jr. struggled to make much of an impact. He struggled to get into whatever possible flow of offense there was. His shot was a little off and thats his best skill. Rio finished with five points and two assists.

Najee Garvin is the Pirates best player. He has a pro body, but is more of a finesse player at 6’8 210. While he did have 18 points and four rebounds, he also had four fouls and four turnovers. Garvin has quickness in the post and an ability to drive the lane. He had a quick spin and reverse finish in the post in the second half that was smooth. He is still developing shooting range, but he would be more suited for a fast paced offense. Maybe Hampton will pick up the pace this year. It looked to me that would be there best chance, with a real lack of overall size.

Garvin shooting a three. This was an airball FYI.

Towson impressed me. They don’t have a lot of big men depth. Charles Thompson and Cam Holden basically had there way when they posted up. Holden is an interesting player. Listed at 6’5 200, he plays bigger and tougher than that. He’s an undersized 4. Holden isn’t going to shoot much from mid range or from the outside. His game is backing down defenders, using fakes and his adept scoring ability close to the basket. He had a good showing with eleven points, twelve rebounds and four assists.

Terry Nolan Jr. had a massive dunk in the second half. He plays with pace, sometimes too much. Nolan is still inconsistent as a shooter, but very dangerous when slashing to the basket. His length gave Hampton issues on offense as well. Nolan had eleven points, four rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Jason Gibson looks like Coach Pat Skerry’s favorite player. The crowd loves him and its hard not to. He’s all over the court. Running off screens, diving on the floor and even driving the lane against defenders with five inches on him. He’s a spark plug that Towson hasn’t had in a while before he got there. Gibson led the team with 13 points, three assists, three steals and was 8-8 from the foul line.

Nicolas Timberlake and Charles Thompson also had eleven points a piece.

Towson had five players with eleven points or more.

Up next for me is George Mason @ Maryland on Wednesday.