– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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WASHINGTON — One of the Southernmost conference tournaments will have a distinct New York City flavor to it on Monday evening.
The nightcap of the 2024 CAA Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinals will feature Nassau County vs. Suffolk County: specifically, third-seeded Hofstra University (Nassau) and No. 7 Stony Brook (Suffolk). The winner of that game will take on the victor of the first game between top-seeded Charleston and No. 5 Towson.
Playing the role of Cinderella are Suffolk’s Seawolves, who persevered through a double-overtime thriller to upset No. 2 Drexel, 91-88, in the quarterfinals. Stony Brook made shots at the end of regulation and in overtime, with Aaron Clarke’s jumper with nine second remaining in the first extra session keeping Stony Brook in the tournament. Clarke finished with 27 points in the contest as the Seawolves advanced to the CAA tournament semifinals for the first time since joining the league two years ago.
Nassau’s Pride had an easier time of it last night, dispatching No. 6 Delaware 73-58. Tyler Thomas, the 2024 CAA Player off the year, scored 20 points and hit a three-pointer at the 5:31 mark of the first half that started a 10-0 run to end half and give Hofstra a six-point lead. Another guard, Darlinstone Dunbar, led all scorers with 23 points and also had 11 rebounds. The Pride, who were upset as the top seed in the semifinals of last year’s tournament against UNC Wilmington, are looking to advance to their first CAA Tournament final since 2020, when it defeated Northeastern to win the title. (Because of the coronavirus pandemic, they were not able to participate in the NCAA Tournament due to its cancellation.)
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday’s event, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographers Yusuf Abdullah and Clifford Ray Williams. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 19 pictures in total.
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