Old Dominion Downs William & Mary For CAA Title, NCAA Tournament Automatic Bid

Preview via Sports Network. After the game, we’ll have post-game analysis right here from Chris Dobbertean, who is in Richmond, VA for the contest:

The Monarchs defeated William & Mary twice this season and overall Old Dominion has dominated the Tribe, winning 62 of the 77 all-time meetings.

The first CAA Tournament semifinal, featuring top-seeded Old Dominion and fifth-seeded VCU, was an instant classic. The second game, No. 3 William & Mary’s 47-45 victory over second-seeded Northeastern was just as exciting, but not for the same reasons.

The fans who remained after game one saw William & Mary build a 31-17 halftime lead. The Tribe made four of their first eight from outside, before cooling off, as they ended the half five for 13 from beyond the arc. That was mostly due to David Schneider missing all four of his three-point attempts.

If you were unaware that it’s both the month of March and one week from Selection Sunday, Sunday’s first CAA Tournament semifinal between top-seeded Old Dominion and their archrival, fifth-seeded VCU, provided all the reminder anyone would ever need.

In front of a VCU-friendly near-capacity crowd at Richmond Coliseum, the regular season champions moved on to the final with a 73-69 overtime victory.

The CAA Tournament semifinals are now set for Sunday, as third-seeded William & Mary defeated No. 11 James Madison, 70-65, Saturday night in Richmond.

It truly was a game of two halves. Early on, it looked like both teams would put on an offensive show, as the Tribe and Dukes opened the game by putting on a shooting clinic for the first four minutes. James Madison stayed hot, hitting 54.2 percent of their shots in the opening period, while William & Mary only managed to hit 32 percent. Considering the Tribe is known as a streaky three-point shooting team, the fact they only managed 22 percent from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes meant they found themselves down nine at the break.

Saturday’s second CAA quarterfinal between fourth-seeded George Mason and fifth-seeded VCU had all of the appearances of an instant classic, as two closely matched teams were playing for their postseason lives in an electric atmosphere that was a true example of why March is so unique.

VCU’s Brandon Rozzell made sure that wasn’t the case, however. He hit a trio of threes in a less than two minute span, with the first coming when the score was deadlocked 53, to push the Rams past fourth-seeded George Mason in Saturday afternoon’s second CAA quarterfinal. The final score: VCU 75, George Mason 60.

Saturday’s first quarterfinal at the CAA Tournament was never in much doubt.

Regular season champion Old Dominion improved to 24-8 on the season with an emphatic 86-56 victory over eighth-seeded Towson. The Monarchs will next face the winner of the 4/5 quarterfinal between George Mason and VCU in Sunday’s first semifinal.

On Friday. the CAA Tournament began in Richmond with the fifth through 12th seeds battling for places in Saturday’s quarterfinals. Three of the four higher seeds were successful.

The afternoon session featured two mismatches decided by 17 points each.

What: The Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Basketball Tournament

At Stake: An automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament