One Season Later, Towson Comes Full Circle (Recap of Towson v. Charleston)

On November 9, 2012, in what was the first game of the 2012-13 season that I covered in my new home of South Carolina, Towson faced the College of Charleston at TD Arena.  It was the first time in four years I had been at the John Kresse Court at TD Arena.  Four years prior, I was there on vacation for the inaugural Charleston Classic with my good friend Tony Terentieff.   A year and two months ago,  I was there sitting on press row, two hours away from where I now lived in Columbia, South Carolina

In November 2012, Pat Skerry was coming off a 1-31 record in his first season coaching the Tigers.  He finally had several of his transfers eligible, including Jerome Benimon and Mike Burrell.  Meanwhile, the Cougars were spending their last season in the Southern Conference as they had announced earlier that they were joining the CAA.   The veteran Cougars jumped on the Tigers, scoring forty of the first fifty four points in the game.  Towson played much better in the second half, but Charleston went on to win the game 70-58.

Towson used that second half against Charleston as a springboard to a much better record in the 2012-13 season finishing 18-13 and 13-5 in the CAA.  Charleston won twenty four games last season, losing in the Southern Conference Championship game to Davidson and then lost by a point at home in a first round CBI game to George Mason.

Fast forward to a year and a couple of months later.  The preseason CAA conference favorites, Towson entered TD Arena Sunday afternoon with an 11-6 record including a 2-0 record in the CAA.  The Tigers came into the game with a four game winning streak, including an impressive 80-68 road win over Drexel.

Meanwhile, the Cougars have been up and down this season.  They started off this season 2-5, including a 67-58 overtime loss at home to UNC Asheville, a game that I attended.  However the CofC entered Sunday's game having won five of its last six games for a 10-8 record on the season and a 2-1 record in conference.  They also came off an impressive road win, downing Northeastern 58-49, a game that I watched on the NBC Sports channel.

The game started Sunday at 3:30 PM, which was right smack at the beginning of the AFC Championship Game.  My guess is that the football game kept a few people away, but there was still a good crowd to see the basketball game.  Also I had it on good authority that there were a number of NBA scouts in the building, likely there to see one player in particular, the double double machine Jerome Benimon.  Sunday, I was sitting up in Section 204, dead center court to see how Benimon would fair against the Cougars.

Benimon is one of Skerry's transfers, in his case from Georgetown.  Last season, Benimon's first with Towson, he quickly became a force in the CAA.  He averaged seventeen points and eleven rebounds per game, shooting fifty three percent from the field.  This season, Benimon averages eighteen points and eleven rebounds per game while shooting fifty two percent from the field.  The six foot eight, two hundred and forty five pound Benimon is light on his feet, can shoot from the outside and is relentless on the boards.

The game started out with the Cougars' Willis Hall, a near near double double machine in his own right, stroking a three pointer.  This is not unusual for Hall, who shoots nearly forty three percent from beyond the arc.  Hall would add a tip-in and two more three pointers later on to give Charleston a 14-9 lead.  In seven and a half minutes, Hall already had eleven points for the Cougars.

But another of Skerry's transfers, sophomore Four McGlynn, previously the America East Rookie of the Year at Vermont, buried a three pointer.   Then Rafael Guthrie, a JUCO transfer that comes off the bench for Towson nailed a three pointer to tie the game at fifteen.

Charleston would retake the lead as the Cougars' other talented post player, Adjehi Baru scored four of CofC's next six points, including a jumper to give Charleston a 21-17 lead.  After his jumper, the crowd gave a loud BARUUUU cheer.  It would be the last time the Cougars would have the lead the rest of the game.

Towson would score the next six points as Benimon started making his presence known.  Perhaps from the knowledge that many NBA scouts were there to watch him, Benimon had struggled early on from the field, missing four of his first five field goal attempts.  But he was able to draw a foul on Anthony Thomas, then hit one of two free throws.  Then Benimon assisted on a McGlynn three pointer and later hit a jumper to put Towson up 25-23.

After Theo Johnson hit two free throws for Charleston to tie the game at twenty five, Mike Burrell found Benimon, who drilled a three pointer to put the Tigers back up in front.  Burrell would hit his own three to give Towson a six point lead, 31-25.   Benimon was already on his way to a double double with eight points and seven rebounds in the first half.  But Hall would respond for the Cougars by hitting a jumper then assisting Baru on a basket.  Charleston would enter the half only down two, 31-29.  Hall led all scorers with fifteen first half points.

The halftime shows at TD Arena are always fun.  First two students battled in a tricycle race.  My favorite part of that was the PA announcer introduced the tricycle race, driving around on a tricycle himself.  Then Guinness World Record holding juggler Albert Lucas entertained the crowd with various feats of juggling, including sticks of fire.  It was an enjoyable halftime show.

The second half saw Benimon pick up right where he left off.  He first hit a jumper, then assisted on a Burwell jumper to put Towson up 35-31.  Then after Thomas cut the Tigers' lead to three, 37-34, Benimon responded with two straight jumpers to extend Towson's lead to seven, 41-34.  Charleston Head Coach Doug Wojcik called timeout, trying to stop the Tigers' momentum, but it ultimately failed.

After Towson extended the lead to nine on a Timajh Parker Rivera shot, Anthony Stitt nailed a three pointer to cut Towson's lead to six, 43-37.   Marcus Damas hit a three pointer of his own to put the Tigers back up nine, 46-37.  However, the Cougars were still hanging around, only down 48-41 with 10:45 left after a layup by Baru.

That's when another of Skerry's transfers, Burrell, went to work.  Burrell, a transfer from South Florida, started taking Stitt off the dribble drive and Stitt couldn't handle him.  First Burrell drove past Stitt for a layup and one.  But he missed the free throw.  Then on the Tigers' next possession, again Burrell got a layup and one on Stitt.  This time he hit the free throw for the three point play to put the Tigers up 53-41.

After Willis Hall missed a three pointer, Burrell again drove on Stitt. This time, Stitt didn't want to pick up another foul and Burrell drove by him for an easy layup.  Finally Burrell grabbed a rebound on the Cougars' next possession and Benimon subsequently buried a shot to put Towson up 57-41.  In the span of nearly five and a half minutes, Burrell was either directly or indirectly responsible for all nine of the Tigers' points.  What had been a seven point lead was now a sixteen point rout with five plus minutes left.

To make matters worse for the home fans, Charleston went into a major scoring drought during this time. The Cougars went seven minutes and forty five seconds without scoring a field goal.  Finally with three minutes left, Stitt hit a layup to cut the lead to fourteen, 57-43.

But the damage had been done.  The Cougars had to foul the rest of the way, which made for a somewhat painful last three minutes to watch.  Towson scored their final fifteen points from the foul line and Charleston never got closer than thirteen points the rest of the way.  Seldom used Johnathan Cook gave the Cougars their last points of the game on a three pointer and the Tigers won 72-57.

Towson shot forty eight percent in the second half and forty three percent for the game.  Benimon had his ninth double double in a row with twenty points and twelve rebounds, six of which came off the offensive glass. He showed a nice mid range jumper, good ball handling and even nailed a three pointer. Benimon also added three assists and two steals. Burwell added eighteen points, shooting eight of thirteen from the field. Guthrie added fourteen points off the bench and McGlynn had eleven points. Towson is now 3-0 in the CAA and 12-6 overall.

Hall led the Cougars and all scorers with twenty one points, but he only had six points in the second half.  He also had a double double with twelve rebounds, including six on the offensive end.  Baru was the only other Cougar in double figures scoring with nearly a double double of his own, fifteen points and nine rebounds.  Charleston was held to thirty three percent shooting from the field, including six of twenty from beyond the arc.  The Cougars are now 10-9 and 2-2 in the CAA.

As I walked out of the Arena onto Meeting Street, I walked around Charleston for a little bit.  Having stayed overnight in "America's Friendliest City" in September and hung out with my friends in Chucktown this past November, I didn't stay too long this time because I had a two hour drive back home to Columbia.

In November 2012, I didn't stay too long either after the previous Towson-Charleston game because I also had the two hour drive back to Columbia.  At that time, it was a drive back to a lonely rented house that I was staying in while my family was up in New York until our house closed up there.   This time, I was driving back to our new house in Columbia, where the rest of my family is now.  

Understanding where Towson was a year and two months ago, I could appreciate the fact that Tigers had come full circle, as my life here in South Carolina has come full circle too.

A Night in Charleston (Recap of UNC Asheville vs. College of Charleston)

In November 2008, my friend Tony Terentieff and I took a trip down to Charleston to see Hofstra play in the inaugural Charleston Classic.  I quickly fell in love with a city full of history, culture, character, wonderful southern architecture and of course, terrific food.  It was truly one of the best vacations in my life.

When I accepted a position at the University of South Carolina School of Law in August 2012, one of the things I quickly looked forward to was being able to go every so often to Charleston.  Last basketball season, I was able to see Towson play College of Charleston, but due to time constraints, I didn't have much of a chance to enjoy one of my favorite cities.

However, late this summer, I brought my family to visit Charleston for an overnight trip.  My wife and my kids immensely enjoyed this city by the water, as we took in the Aquarium, visited a plantation (with a swamp full of alligators!) and walked through Waterfront Park, The Battery and went by many historic homes.  My family quickly became fond of the second largest city in South Carolina.

When my friend, Tony Bozzella, became head coach of the Seton Hall women's basketball team, he let us know that they were playing at South Carolina on Sunday, November 17.   It also happens to be the weekend of South Carolina hosting Florida in football.   So, a group of us put plans in motion for a weekend of sports, circled around seeing our good friend, Coach Bozzella.  It was also a reunion of my Hofstra basketball trio as I would get to see Tieff and Mal.

The original plan for the sports weekend was for Mal and Tieff to fly down on Friday morning and I would show them around Columbia.  But it just so happened that the College of Charleston was hosting UNC Asheville last night.  So I had a better plan;  a night of hoops in "The Holy City".

After picking them up at Charlotte airport, I drove them back to my house here in Forest Acres, a town inside Columbia.   We then had a tasty lunch of South Carolina barbecue at my home. Afterwards, I took Mal and Tieff to check into their hotel.  Then we made the now familiar two hour drive down to "America's Most Friendly City" (as noted by Conde Nast Traveler).  

I parked in the same garage by the downtown Hampton Inn that we used for my family trip in late summer and made our way through the streets of Charleston.  After a quick dinner at a local establishment, we headed out to what my Google Maps thought where the arena was located.  We quickly realized that it was not the right direction, so thanks to a couple of helpful, female College of Charleston students, which once again proved that Charleston is "the most polite and hospitable city in America", we got to TD Arena fifteen minutes before game time.

The John Kresse Court at TD arena is nestled into the heart of the College of Charleston campus.  It opened in November of 2008 and seats 5,100 people.  The TD Arena will be hosting its sixth Charleston Classic on November 21.   The Cougars will be one of the eight teams in the tournament.  Strangely, this only the third time that the College of Charleston will have played in the tournament on its home court.  The Cougars played in the first Charleston Classic and in last season's tournament.

It was a good crowd for a drizzly Friday night.  Tieff was hoping that there was no rain this time, unlike 2008.  During the first day of action in the brand new arena, it was raining in Charleston.  And the TD Arena roof had its first leak.  It just so happened the leak was right above where Tieff was sitting and sure enough, TD Arena, sort of speak, christened Tieff.

There was one difference between last night and the previous times I had seen the College of Charleston play on John Kresse Court.  That was the CAA logo at both baskets.  The Cougars just joined the Colonial Athletic Association this fall after years of being in the Southern Conference.

Early in this college basketball season, so much has been made of the impact of freshmen like Duke's Jabari Parker, Kansas' Andrew Wiggins and Kentucky's Julius Randle.  But its not just the big name schools that have impact freshman.   UNC Asheville and College of Charleston each have a freshman leading their team in scoring.   The Bulldogs have guard Andrew Rowsey, who came into the game averaging 18 points per game. The Cougars have Rick Barry's son, Canyon Barry.  Canyon put up 36 points in a win over Charlotte.

From the outset, both freshmen made their presence known on the court.  Barry hit a layup to give Charleston a 2-0 lead.  It would be the only lead the Cougars would have for the next thirty plus minutes of game action.  After D.J Cunningham, otherwise known as "Mr. C" the rest of the night (Google it), tipped in a rebound to tie the game at two, Rowsey went to work.  He assisted on a layup, then buried a three pointer and then hit another jumper to put UNC Asheville up 9-4.  A little bit later, Rowsey hit a layup and then buried another three pointer to extend the Bulldogs lead to ten, 16-6.

After the Bulldogs went up by 13, 21-8 with about nine minutes left in the half, Barry went to work.  He would score eleven of the Cougars next thirteen points with an array of three pointers, layups, dunks and of course, trademark Rick Barry underhanded free throws.  The kicker was that entering the game, Barry was only one of seven from the free throw line.  Tieff and Mal believed that Barry had been shooting his free throws overhand in those two games and that his Dad called him to say "Us Barrys shoot their free throws underhand, son.".  Barry would go six of six shooting underhand free throws on the night.

But despite Barry's scoring prowess, the UNC Asheville lead would continue to grow.  The Bulldogs were up 31-17 with two and a half minutes to go in the half.  This was a result of largely two things.  One, Rowsey creating offense either with a long three pointer or in one case, driving to the basket, then using an old school, rec league ball fake that resulted in a defender jumping up, leaving his man open for an easy layup. The other was "Mr. C" constantly getting post feeds and backing into his man for easy post shots.  Time after time, Cunningham was able to get an open look and there were no Cougars helping out to double team the six foot ten senior center.

Meanwhile, outside of Barry, the Cougars struggled on offense.  They only shot 8 of 29 from the field in the first half and if they weren't missing a shot, Cunningham or the Bulldogs' Jaleel Roberts were blocking them.  Cunningham had six blocks in the game and Roberts added three of his own.   UNC Asheville went into the locker room up 31-21 at half.

The College of Charleston needed to change things up to start the second half.  And the Cougars' Athletics Staff  provided the student section with the necessary arsenal to distract the Bulldogs' free throw shooters; inflatable props, consisting of palm trees, blue whales, bricks and turtles.  I think the props distracted the students more than it did the free throw shooters.  Still, it was a neat touch.

Through the first three minutes of the second half, UNC Asheville maintained a double digit lead, 37-26.  Then a Barry three pointer ignited a 16-2 run, capped on layup by Joe Chealey, another talented Cougars' freshman.   College of Charleston had its first lead, 42-39, since ninety seconds into the start of the game.

Rowsey would answer with four straight points, his first points since seven minutes left in the first half and the Bulldogs went back up 43-42.  Chealey would respond with a three pointer to put the Cougars back up two, 45-43 with ten minutes left.

It was then that Bulldogs' senior Jaron Lane offensively got on track.  Lane, a redshirt senior due to an ankle injury last season and who averaged 11.5 points per game in 2011-12, had a horrible first half as he went 0 for 6 from the field, missing badly on all of his three point attempts. In fact, Lane had missed on his first seven three pointers of the season.  But over the span of nearly six minutes, Lane accounted for nine of the next eleven points UNC Asheville scored, including a three pointer that put the Bulldogs up 54-49 with 3:20 left in the game.

The Bulldogs looked like they were going onto victory as the Cougars had not hit a field goal since eight and a half minutes left in the second half.   But some teams can't stand prosperity and the Bulldogs went away from their Rowsey dribble drive/Cunningham post game and went into a stall, with either Rowsey or Corey Littlejohn dribbling at the top of the key and Cunningham all the way over into a corner.  Their possessions ended up in badly taken shots, or in the case of Lane, a turnover.

As a result, UNC Asheville would not score another point the rest of the second half.   However, the College of Charleston barely took advantage.  First, Anthony Thomas hit a jumper to cut the lead to three, 54-51.  After missing on two consecutive possessions, the third time was the charge as Chealey setup Willis Hall nicely for a game tying three pointer with thirty five seconds left in the game.   The Bulldogs failed to score on their last possession and the game went into overtime tied at fifty four.

In the overtime period, the Bulldogs went back to the offense they unwisely had abandoned late in the second half.   On post plays, Cunningham, sorry, Mr. C hit two consecutive jumpers to put UNC Asheville up 58-54.  Adjehl Baru, who had a double of twelve points and thirteen rebounds, hit a jumper of his own to cut the Bulldogs lead to two, 58-56.  But on the next Cougars' possession, Baru missed a possible game tying jumper.  Rowsey responded with a jumper to put UNC Asheville back up four, 60-56.

As was the case for most of the game, the Cougars were ice cold from the floor down the stretch and Chealey and Thomas both missed easy layups that could have cut the deficit to two points.  From there, the Bulldogs iced the game hitting seven of eight free throws.  Meanwhile, Chealey had the last two points for the Cougars, but missed on two shots to end the game.  The Bulldogs got their first win of the season, a hard fought 67-58 overtime win.

The Bulldogs shot forty six percent from the field and fourteen of fifteen from the charity stripe.  Rowsey led all scorers with twenty three points on eight of eleven shooting from the field, including three of six from beyond the arc.  Lane scored thirteen points after the first twenty minutes.  Mr. C had a double double of twelve points and ten rebounds to go with his six blocks.

The Cougars had eighteen more field goal attempts than the Bulldogs, due to only six turnovers and forcing fourteen Bulldogs' turnovers.  Yet Charleston hit two less shots than UNC Asheville (22 to 24).  The Cougars were also a frigid five of twenty seven from beyond the arc.  Barry led Charleston with eighteen points, but he was only five of seventeen from the field, including two of nine from beyond the arc.  Baru had his double double and Chealey added ten points.

We said goodbye to "The Holy City" and made the two hour trip back to Mal and Tieff's hotel in downtown, Columbia.  Day one of our sports weekend was complete.  Day two is just beginning.

Be True to Your School (Recap of SMU vs. Hofstra)

When it came to college, I didn't have much of a choice over twenty eight years ago.  Though I was in the top ten percent of my class, I couldn't live out of state with my family situation.   My parents were divorced and I lived with mom, my older sister, albeit briefly, and my little sister.  We were struggling to get by on 81 Cherry Avenue in Bethpage.  Thus Valparaiso, a school that sent me a lot of information because I was Lutheran (I guess you could say they "recruited" me), was out of the question, despite the knowledge that they played Notre Dame in basketball every year (that was their claim to fame at the time, long before the Drews).

My mom wanted me to be the first person in my family to go to school full time and graduate (my older sister and brother went part time and both graduated).  I wanted to go to a good school and Stony Brook was too far of a commute, especially for someone who didn't have a car till his junior year of college.  So Hofstra offered me a half scholarship.  Other scholarships, TAP (NY State's Tuition Assistance Program) and federal loans helped me get by those four years.  That and my mom driving me to and from Hofstra for the first two years.

Back then, I barely followed the men's basketball program.  I concentrated on keeping my half scholarship and worked part time.  But the Flying Dutchmen, as they were known then, were about to get a life long alum and friend.

It was at Hofstra that I met my dear friend Tony Terentieff, aka Tieff to the readers of this blog.  Through Tieff, I got to know my dear friends Tony Bozzella and Mal Galletta, though neither went to Hofstra (both went to Glen Cove High School).  I met other dear friends, directly and indirectly through Hofstra.

Then after I graduated in 1988, an IT position came open in the Axinn Library at Hofstra.  Though I had many opportunities to work in New York City, the thought of being close to home was appealing.  I accepted the position, gained a lot of knowledge and more lifelong friends.

Four years later, I accepted a position at Hofstra Law School.   My first day there, I met my future wife.  Over my nineteen years there, I became friends with a lot of faculty, administration, staff  and students (now alums) there and at other places on campus.  It was a wonderful twenty eight years that ended when I accepted my new position at the University of South Carolina in August.

Over the last thirteen years, I became a fan of the basketball program at Hofstra.   I became a season ticket holder, went to many CAA Tournaments and Hofstra road games.  My fondness for college basketball grew and in December 2005, I started this blog on college baskebtall.

Yes, this is the seven year anniversary of my blog.  What started as a dare by two friends, as an offering to my love of college basketball, has become a deep seated passion for me, as well now for my seven year old son, Matthew. I have seen so many countless games as a result of this blog, so many memories.

All of this would not be possible without Hofstra.  My wife, my sons, my dear friends and colleagues and even this new job/life in South Carolina would never have happened without that Dutch commuter school in Hempstead, New York.

Yesterday, I had a choice.   I could have gone to Charlotte and covered the East Carolina - Charlotte game, which featured the only two undefeated schools left in North Carolina (won by Charlotte) or I could stay in my rented house here in Columbia and watch the SMU-Hofstra game online.

Considering the circumstances of Friday, people would have understood had I chosen the ECU-Charlotte game. I, along with many others including Jerry Beach, aka Defiantly Dutch, were frustrated, disgusted and exasperated  by what four members of the men's basketball team did over the past few months.   It would have been easy to say "I need a break from the Hofstra basketball team.  Those four student athletes ruined the team".   No one would have blamed me.

Except me.  In a relationship, a life long relationship, like say marriage, you take the good with the bad.  You know "in sickness and in health.  Till death do you part".  There are bumpy roads and to quote Sylvester Stallone from the most recent Rocky movie "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows."

Yes, what those four kids did were wrong and I took them to task for it yesterday.  But since I couldn't be there in person, to give the remaining kids on the team that did no wrong an ovation and support and for the coaching staff,who as Mo Cassara stated in press conference were "heartbroken", I had to show support in some way.

Thus I made my choice.  I stayed home and watched the game online.

Larry Brown's SMU team came in to yesterday's game at 7-1 on the season.  The nomadic Brown, who Cassara noted "Has forgotten more basketball than I know", basically plays seven players,several of whom came from other schools.  Leading scorer Nick Russell was a transfer from Kansas State and was a key member off the bench for the Wildcats' 2010-11 Elite Eight team.  Shawn Williams transferred from Texas.  London Giles came by way of Nevada.

Unlike Matt Doherty, who was fired after an 8-20 season, Brown has got this team to mesh and playing tough defense.  It was evident early on, as the Mustangs jumped out to a 10-0 lead.  They packed their defense inside, limiting Hofstra to just six first half points in the paint and forcing the Pride to shoot from beyond the arc, much more than Hofstra had on the season.

The result was the Pride missed their first seven three point attempts.  When David Imes finally hit Hofstra's first three pointer, Hofstra was down 26-10.   Despite shooting 2 of 11 from beyond the arc, amazingly the Pride were only down twelve, 31-19 at the half.   This was due in large part to Steve Mejia, who scored the Pride's final five points of the half and had eight at the half.

There was hope that Hofstra could make a game of it after ending the first half with a 12-5 run.  And after Jordan Allen started the second half with a dunk to cut the lead to ten, 31-21, it seemed that the fans in the Mack Center might be treated to another exciting finish as they had in wins over South Dakota State and Marshall.

But SMU quickly dashed that with an 14-4 run over four minutes.  Jalen Jones scored seven of those points including a three point play to put the Mustangs up 45-25.  From there, the rout was on.  Another Jones three point play put SMU up 55-28.  Bryan Bernardi, who comes off the bench for the Mustangs and was heavily recruited by Hofstra, got into the act with a three pointer to put SMU up twenty eight.  The lead got as much as thirty before the Mustangs eventually won 73-47.

SMU scorched Hofstra in the second half, shooting fifty nine percent and scoring twenty points in the paint. They outscored Hofstra 32-14 in the paint for the game. Jones scored all of fourteen points in the second half.  Russell had ten second half points and finished with twenty points

The Mustangs keyed on Taran Buie all night and he was held to ten points on 3 of 13 shooting.  Mejia led the way with eleven points, but only three came in the second half.  There were bright spots for Hofstra as  senior walk-on Matt Grogan had a career high seven points. Stephen Nwaukoni was back after missing a couple of games with four points and eight rebounds. Finally, Darren Payen, who originally was going to be redshirted for the season, came off the bench and scored two points and had five rebounds in twenty two minutes.

After the game, as you would have figured, Cassara faced a lot of questions from the media about the four players being arrested.  He couldn't talk about the case itself, but he talked about how the coaches do evaluate their recruits, get to know their parents and their families.  Cassara talked about how "heartbroken" he was over the situation.  He also noted "Our guys are resilient. My staff is resilient. And most importantly, I'm resilient. And we're gonna just keep working as hard as we can."

Finally he noted how much he loves Hofstra.  Hofstra hired him in 2010 after Tim Welsh resigned after a DWI incident.  As Jerry Beach has noted and I have seen as well, Cassara has been an ambassador to Hofstra and has been at many events/functions/charities promoting the school in person and in social media  In his first season, he took a team depleted by transfers and had not finished in the top four of the CAA in Charles Jenkins' first three seasons and that team finished third in the CAA and won twenty one games.  Of course that was the season of #3BidsForCAA and the Final Four run of VCU.

He may not have graduated from Hofstra, but Cassara has been true to "his school", the one that gave him a chance to be a head coach on the Division I level for the first time. I know that there are many of us who either graduated from the school or work for the school and are disgusted, embarrassed and frustrated by what those four players did.  It's understandable to feel that way.  But we need to be true to our school right now just like we are in good times.  The basketball program, with the good kids that are still there now and had nothing to do with those burglaries, needs our support.

This week my mom's house was officially sold, almost exactly three years after her death.  I was there last Saturday morning picking up a final few things.  Before I left, I looked around the house one last time.  All the memories growing up there.  I wondered about whether my mom is watching me from above and what she thinks of me.

I know that she is glad I went to Hofstra and got my degree.  That much I am certain.

Guest Blogging on A Daly Dose of Hoops

If you want a scouting report of Charleston as they take on St John's tonight for the Charleston Classic (game time 5:00 PM Eastern on ESPNU), take a look at my friend Jaden Daly's excellent blog "A Daly Dose of Hoops".  Jaden was kind enough to let me do an article reviewing the College of Charleston and their win over Towson.  Enjoy.

What Could Be in The CAA (Recap of Towson vs. Charleston)

For seven years, I had been covering games from New York and Hofstra as my base of operations for this blog.  When I moved down to South Carolina in August, I wondered what my first game would be covering in this region.  A few weeks ago, I finally scanned several of the local teams within a two hour area and I came across an intriguing match-up that would start my college basketball season.   

College of Charleston's Board of Trustees had recently voted to open negotiations with the CAA.  Basically, the Cougars are putting one foot in the door to moving from the Southern Conference to the Colonial.  It was a move that both Davidson and Appalachian State had refused to do, likely for budgetary travel reasons. 

So why not truly get your foot in the door and see what the CAA has to offer by playing Towson in your first game of the season.  Now yes, I know the conference schedules are made up in advance, but how about giving me some artistic license for this story.

Four years ago, I was there for the christening of the John Kresse Court at the TD arena.   The arena, which was at that time named the Carolina First Arena, had just opened and my friend Tony Terentieff and I were there to see the inaugural Charleston Classic, which started on November 14, 2008.   We were there for the first few days of the preseason tournament since Hofstra was playing in the Classic.  I remember fondly that during the second day of the tournament, there was a rain storm and the roof leaked in certain parts, including the area right above we were sitting.  Water trickled down on to Tieff.  Good times.

Some things haven't changed from four years ago.  In November of 2008, Barack Obama had just been elected President.  This week, Barack Obama was re-elected President.  However, four years ago, I was here on vacation.  Four years later, I am here since I now live less than two hours away in Columbia.  Some things have changed.

The Cougars have also undergone a big change at the coaching helm.  Doug Wojcik, who had been previously the coach of Tulsa, is now the new head coach of Charleston.  After averaging twenty wins a season at Tulsa, Wojcik, the former point guard on the David Robinson led Navy NCAA Tournament teams, is now responsible for trying to get the Cougars back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 1998-99 season.

Wojcik has inherited an experienced Cougars team.  Four of the five starters and six of the top seven players from last year's 19-12 team return for Charleston.  Andrew Lawrence, Trent Wiedeman, Anthony Stitt and Adjehl Baru, Matt Sundberg and Nori Johnson combined to average nearly fifty five points per game last season.  Lawrence averaged five and half assists and nearly two steals per game. Wiedeman averaged 8.7 rebounds per game and had nine-nine double doubles on the season. Stitt had a career high twenty three points in an early non conference win last season vs. eventual NIT runner-up Massachusetts.

Wojcik's opponent has only had one season under his belt as a head coach. Towson's Pat Skerry, hopes to put that 1-31 season way behind him as he enters his second season.  Unlike Wojcik, Skerry has a very unproven team.  The Tigers have nine new players on the team - five freshman, one JUCO transfer, and three Big East transfers.  And that doesn't include Four McGlynn, the America East Rookie of the Year, who transferred to Towson, but must sit out the year due to NCAA transfer rules 

Skerry is hoping that his Big East transfer trifecta of Bilal Dixon (Providence), Mike Burwell (South Florida) and Jerrelle Benimon (Georgetown) will lead them to a far better season.  Skerry does have two returning players of significance.  Marcus Damas, the Tigers' second leading scorer from last season returns. Damas averaged twelve and a half points per game and had a career high twenty six points vs. CAA regular season champion Drexel.   Guard Kris Walden started all thirty two games last season and led all freshmen in the Colonial in assists with 103.

I made the straight shot drive from Columbia to Charleston via I-26 and got to the TD arena about a half hour before the start of the game.  The TD arena seats 5,100.  The home team was welcomed with a good sized crowd of 4,215.  But strangely the concession area above the filled student section near the Towson bench was closed. Perhaps they knew that a lot of fans would go to the Five Guys nearby for burgers. Wojcik would note later in his post game conference that he was very impressed with how the fans and the sound system filled the arena.  Wojcik seems very pleased with the facilities and he should be. It's a very nice arena.

The crowd quickly got into the game as Charleston worked it inside to Wiedeman and Baru.  Meanwhile, in a similar fashion to a game from last season vs. Hofstra, Towson shot itself in the foot in the beginning.  In their first three possessions, the Tigers had a shot clock violation, a traveling call and an offensive foul.  After Wiedeman emphatically blocked a Benimon shot which resulted in the crowd roaring into the under 16 minute media timeout, Charleston was up 9-2.

Things did not get better for the Tigers.  Wojcik's influence on the Cougars is already evident.  Charleston was very strong on the defensive end, with active hands in the passing lane.  The Cougars forced twelve first half turnovers on the Tigers, which resulted in eighteen points.  Towson struggled to get shots off, especially from the outside, shooting one of six from beyond the arc in the first half.

On the offensive end, Charleston repeatedly worked the ball inside to Wiedeman and Baru, scoring sixteen first half points in the paint, while only attempting three shots from beyond the arc in the first twenty minutes.  The Cougars finished their final possession of the first half with a beautiful passing display, resulting in a Wiedeman dunk that put Charleston up 40-14 at the half.

As I reviewed the stats for the first twenty minutes, the halftime show was a tricycle race, which I thought was very cool.  Good thing my color analyst, aka my seven year old son Matthew, was not here.  Otherwise, he would have volunteered to take on the winner.

Charleston picked up right where they left off in the first half.  As much as I was impressed with Lawrence and Wiedeman during the game, my favorite Cougars' player is Baru.  Baru works so hard on both ends of the court.  His effort keeping a loose ball in the Cougars' possession resulted in a Stitt three pointer that put Charleston up 46-16. A Wiedeman dunk extended the Cougars' lead to 49-16 four minutes into the second half.

Right after the Wiedeman dunk, Skerry called a timeout. The game for all intensive purposes was over.  But if Towson wanted to show their fans that there is hope for the future, they needed to play better over the final sixteen minutes of the game.

Whatever Skerry said to his team, it worked.  The Tigers started to get the ball into Benimon.  His three point play cut the lead to thirty.  He followed with another layup and a strong blockout on an entry pass that forced a Cougars' turnover.  Benimon's strong play resulted in Wojcik calling a timeout with his team up twenty six points.

The lead would stay in that twenty five point range for the next several minutes. But Towson was now holding their own, especially on the offensive glass where the Tigers had seventeen offensive rebounds, eight of which came from Dixon.  Wiedeman gave Dixon credit after the game and noted that they had to a much better job defensive rebounding for their next game against St John's.

Over the last five minutes, Wojcik started emptying his bench.  Towson continued to play with concerted effort and actually cut the lead down to fifteen before Harrison Bowne hit a stat stuffer layup at the buzzer to make the final score 75-58.

The Cougars shot 56 percent from the field.  Charleston also showed its balance scoring as four of their players scored in double figures.  Wiedeman had seventeen points. Lawrence had sixteen points, seven rebounds and five assists. Stitt had twelve points, shooting three of four beyond the arc and Anthony Thomas had twelve points.  Baru just missed a double double with nine points and nine rebounds.

After shooting just six of twenty six from the field in the first half, Towson rebounded nicely shooting forty eight percent from the field in the second half.  Benimon led all scorers for Towson with twenty three points. Dixon had his first double double as a Tiger with fifteen points and ten rebounds.  Walden added ten points off the bench, his first non starting game for Towson.  Damas was held scoreless in twenty four minutes of action.

After the post game news conference, on the advice of Luke Reasoner, I headed to the Five Guys on King Street to grab a burger before I hit the road for the long drive back to my new home.  Unfortunately, it had just stopped making burgers at 10 PM.  I left for my car and later stopped at a McDonald's on the way back to Columbia.

I know that next time I attend a Charleston game, it will be a weekend game. Having enjoyed Charleston so much four years ago, I will make sure I have plenty time to take in the sites and have time for a real meal.  If the house up in New York closes soon, with a little luck, maybe it will be with my color analyst.

Note - Special thanks to Dustin Semanovick and Marlene Navor for all their kindness and help.  I know that's their job as Sports Information Directors, but they do it well and it's appreciated.