Colonial Fans

Scores

Wednesday, January 1

Northeastern 60, Georgia State 57

Old Dominion 71, Towson 41

James Madison 69, UNC-Wilmington 61

George Mason 89, Delaware 63

Drexel 56, Hofstra 50

Thursday, January 19

VCU 69, William & Mary 68 (OT)

Saturday, January 21

UNC-Wilmington 68, William & Mary 66

Drexel 71, Northeastern 53

George Mason 72, Towson 60

Delaware 77, Georgia State 74 (OT)

Hofstra 71, James Madison 69

VCU 61, Old Dominion 48

The surprise story in the Colonial Athletic Association is showing signs of fading away, leaving the race to the old hands in the league. It’s becoming a familiar kind of campaign on the Atlantic Seaboard, with a Peach State insurgent losing ground as the month of January wears on.

The Georgia State Panthers once owned a partial share of the CAA lead with a 5-1 league record, but the southernmost team in the Colonial is now in a state of free-fall. The Panthers faced a road game at 3-4 Delaware this past Saturday, precisely the kind of test that an up-and-coming club needs to tuck into the win column in order to cement its ascendancy in the sport. The top of the CAA is crowded with quality – George Mason leads the pack, followed by Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion, plus Drexel as well. Mason, VCU and ODU all have the recent NCAA Tournament berths and wins to prove that they should be taken seriously. Drexel hasn’t made it to the Big Dance in recent years but has been unafraid to play top-flight competition out of conference. In order to crowd the group of CAA leaders and move into this very tough neighborhood, Georgia State could not afford to give games away against the lesser lights of the conference. It was always going to be hard enough to beat the top teams in the league, but that made the duel with Delaware a must-have.

The Panthers fell short against the Blue Hens, however. A 40-minute regulation-size drama wasn’t enough to decide the outcome, and neither was a five-minute overtime period. It took 50 minutes and two overtime periods for this drama to be resolved, and the fact that Georgia State couldn’t pull out the win speaks volumes about the Panthers’ lack of staying power. The legs are growing weary in late January, and the mental challenge of becoming a factor in the CAA is clearly wearing on the Panthers’ minds. There’s still a lot of season left, but GSU has to turn around its season in short order.

The big game in the league was Virginia Commonwealth’s battle of Virginia against Old Dominion, in a rematch of last season’s CAA tournament final, won by the Monarchs. This game was played on VCU’s home court in Richmond, and the Rams used that advantage to great effect, locking down ODU at the defensive end of the floor. The Rams are now the primary contender to George Mason for first place in the conference.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer