By Evan Malakates
The men’s basketball season came to an end last Saturday as the No. 5 Pride was defeated in the second round of the Colonial Athletic Association conference tournament by No. 4 Old Dominion, 82-68.
The loss capped off an up and down season for the Pride as it finishes the season with a (14-15, 10-9) record.
Freshman Loren Stokes shot 10 of 20 from the field and finished with 23 points; however, the story of the game for the Pride was missed free throws and poor rebounding.
The Pride shot only 13 of 30 from the charity stripe and was manhandled on the glass by a 42-31 margin. The Monarchs were in control from the start of the contest as the Pride could only try and play catch-up.The Monarchs ended the first half with a 4-0 run that made the score 44-32 in favor of ODU. That scoring run finally ended at 13-0 when sophomore guard Isaiah Hunter nailed a three-pointer, putting the Monarchs ahead by 21 points, 53-32.
The Pride rallied behind Stokes and a stifling full-court press that forced ODU to commit 14 second-half turnovers.
The Pride put together an 11-3 run of its own and with 11:48 left, the lead had been cut to 11, 57-46. Time and time again, the Pride had the opportunity to cut into the lead even more but it appeared every time it had the chance to get closer, a turnover was committed or a free throw was missed. assistant coach Tom Perotta stressed how much this loss hurt especially given the missed opportunities.
“It is very, very demoralizing when you go to the foul line and make only 2 of 13 in the first half when we had a chance to take the lead or come close to it,” Perotta said. “It hurts because it’s something we practice everyday in practice and it came back to bite us today.”
With 1:54 remaining in the contest, the Pride finally cut the lead to single digits on an Aurimas Kieza three-point basket. Kieza, a sophomore, finished the day with 14 points and after making that critical three with just over one minute left, the Pride would never score again. Unlike the Pride, the Monarchs were able to convert 77 percent of their free throws on the afternoon, including six in the final 1:18 to put the Pride away.
Along with his 23 points, Stokes also recorded 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals to lead the way for the Pride.
“We [coaches] turned to each other and said we have a freshman out there that is carrying this team,” Perotta said. “Guys were pulling on their shorts and trying to catch their breath and our injuries and lack of depth finally caught up to us.”
Junior forward Kenny Adeleke fouled out of the contest in the final minutes and finished with 11 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Adeleke was named to the First team All-CAA and because of that the Monarchs focused on stopping him.
“Guys are going to key on [Adeleke] and make it difficult for him to get any kind of open look,” Perotta said. “It is a lot to take on his shoulders but Kenny will adjust.”
Perotta was able to give praise to the entire team and although he explained the team shot itself in the foot by missing so many foul shots; this team’s future is promising. “We’ve made great strides,” Perotta said. “A lot of times you are dealt adversity and you really find out a lot about each other. Obviously we would like to be on the other side of things but we do have a bright future ahead and we couldn’t be prouder of this team.”