A Senior Day to Remember (Recap of UNCW vs. Hofstra)

After watching Fordham rally to defeat LaSalle, my son Matthew and I were able to quickly make our way out of a back exit of Rose Hill gym.  We made it  to our car in the Fordham parking garage quite quickly before the rest of the Ram and Explorer fans.  Our mission was to make it to Hempstead by 4:00 PM. We made it to Hofstra with time to spare for Senior Day at the Mack Center as Hofstra was hosting UNCW.

Senior starters Mike Moore, Nathaniel Lester and Dwan McMillan were all given a special ceremony by Hofstra University before their last home game as members of the Pride.  All three have been significant contributors this season. Moore, the leading scorer in the CAA,  and Lester, the eighth leading scorer in the CAA,  both scored their 1000th career points for the Pride this season.  McMillan, the CAA leader in assists per game, became the starting point guard after Steve Mejia struggled with injuries.

The three thousand plus fans in attendance gave all three a nice ovation, but nowhere near the ovation that last season's seniors Brad Kelleher, Greg Washington and Charles Jenkins received for Senior Day last season.  Perhaps that might have been because a) the Pride had a sold out Mack Center on Senior Day last season and b) the Pride were 13-4 in conference on Senior Day last season as opposed to 2-15 this season. It just so happened that Washington and Jenkins were in attendance for the day's festivities.

The Pride came out very quickly as they have done on several occasions this season.  Lester scored five quick points and Hofstra went out to a 9-0 lead.  UNCW Head Coach Buzz Peterson was so upset with his team's play, he benched all five starters two minutes into the game.

As has occurred several times this season, the Pride would see their early lead evaporate.  The Seahawks went on a 14-3 run over four minutes.  Tanner Milson's second three pointer put the Seahawks up 14-11 with twelve and a half minutes left.  The Hofstra fans had seen this act before and were afraid of the same result.

However, the Pride responded with a huge run. It started with what must have been forward Moussa Kone's longest jumper of the season, which was a ten foot bank shot.  Then a Moore three pointer and a Lester layup put  Hofstra back up 18-14.  Those three baskets were part of the Pride outscoring the Seahawks 34-11 the rest of the half.  Hofstra hit on nine of their last thirteen shots from the field and only missed two of their thirteen free throw attempts for the entire half.

The Pride led at halftime 45-25 in what was easily their best first half of the season.  The team shot six of ten from beyond the arc, had thirteen assists and outrebounded the Seahawks 21-11 in the first twenty minutes.  Moore and Lester had thirty two combined points.   This didn't seem like the same Hofstra team that had lost to UNCW in Wilmington earlier in the season.

During the game, Jenkins, now of the Golden State Warriors, was honored with a special game ball by Coach Mo Cassara.  It was for being the all time scoring leader in Hofstra history.  The entire crowd gave Jenkins a well deserved standing ovation.  Throughout the entire first half, kids came up to Jenkins for autographs and he more than obliged.  Charles Jenkins is truly a class act.

If anyone thought that the first half was a fluke, they were quickly dissuaded in the first six minutes.  Keith Rendleman tried his best (he had sixteen points and nine rebounds for the game), but the rest of the Seahawks were getting overwhelmed by the Pride.  The lead ballooned to thirty, 60-30, with 14:25 left in the game.  Moore and Lester had nailed two more three pointers and the rout was on.

Late in the second half, Hofstra had a lead of thirty seven points.  Think about this. A team that came into the game with only two wins in conference and nine wins in total  was beating their opponents 90-53 with a little over two minutes left.  Cassara cleared what little he has of a bench (due to injuries, redshirts and dismissals), making sure all his seniors got a standing ovation as they left the court.    The Pride would win their last regular season conference game in impressive fashion 93-64.

The final statistics were bewildering.  Hofstra shot fifty six percent from the field, including twelve of nineteen from beyond the arc.  What might have been more impressive was the Pride having twenty five assists and only eleven turnovers.  Moore had thirty points, including shooting six of nine from beyond the arc.  Lester added twenty points.  Stephen Nwaukoni held his own against Rendleman with a double double, ten points and ten rebounds.  Mejia and Shemiye McLendon each had ten points.  But perhaps the most impressive stat was McMillan with fifteen assists and only four turnovers.

Hofstra ended their regular season on a high note.  Hopefully it will give them momentum for next Friday night's first round game vs. Georgia State.   But at least all three seniors had a truly memorable performance in their last home game for the Pride.

Drexel + Hofstra = Rockfight (Recap of Drexel vs. Hofstra)

There are few certainties in life; death, taxes and a Drexel-Hofstra rockfight.  I really don't know how to describe this rivalry otherwise.  The games are tough, physical and almost always a closely fought game. The rivalry has its roots in the America East where the teams battled out from 1994 until 2001.  In the 2001-02 season they both joined the CAA.  The Dragons owned the Pride for the first several seasons in the Colonial, winning eight games in a row.

The Drexel winning streak ended in the quarterfinals of the 2005 CAA Tournament.when Hofstra won 89-77.  Including that win, the Pride had gone 8-5 vs the Dragons since entering last night's contest. Many of the games in the series have been close.  Since the 2003-04 season, ten games have been decided by eight points or less and three of those were overtime games.  The teams have split those ten games.

Just before my six year old son Matthew and I left the house last night to go to the game, Matthew lost a tooth.  He told me he knew the tooth fairy would come over night and leave him a present. I joked with him that maybe the tooth fairy will bring Hofstra a win.

Hofstra was desperate for their first win in conference playing at home in the Mack Center while Drexel wanted to maintain its position in the top four of the CAA.  Just like their game against Northeastern last week, there were no cheerleaders, dance team, pep band or Lions Den student section due to no classes in session.  But the Freeport Marching Band and cheerleaders were in attendance and they did their best to fill the void and the Lions Den Section seating area.

But even if the crowd was small, there will always be electricity in the air when Drexel Head Coach Bruiser Flint is stalking the sidelines.  Bruiser is known for his animated coaching, whether he is arguing with officials, admonishing his own players or doing the classic Bruiser stomp.  Watching him in action is worth the price of admission alone. It only took nineteen seconds of game action before Bruiser was yelling at a referee.

The Pride came out quickly and jumped to a 6-0 lead in not even a minute and a half gone by in the game. And as animated as Bruiser was, Hofstra coach Mo Cassara was equally as animated.  You could tell that he really wanted this win badly.

But as quickly as they started out, Hofstra's shooting turned cold even quicker.  For the next eight plus minutes, the Pride didn't score a point until Stevie Mejia hit one of two free throws. It would be about another two and half minutes before Hofstra scored its next field goal, a layup by Mike Moore with a little more than eight minutes left.

Fortunately for the Pride, the Dragons weren't much better in the scoring department.  Despite outscoring Hofstra 14-1 over the span of ten and a half minutes, Drexel was only ahead by five points after the Moore layup.  The Dragons missed nine of their first ten shots and hit six of seventeen overall in those first twelve minutes.

However, Drexel stretched their lead out to ten, 26-16 on a Damion Lee three pointer with about two and a half minutes left in the half.  The Pride had a chance to cut into the lead but missed six free throws in the first twenty minutes of action.  The Dragons entered halftime leading 29-21.

Looking back on the first half, Hofstra was fortunate that the Drexel lead was not larger.  The Dragons struggled from the outside, shooting two of ten from beyond the arc.  That counterbalanced the Pride's own struggles from the three point line as they missed all five attempts.

As we normally do at halftime, my friend Tieff, Matthew and I visited Defiantly Dutch, aka my good friend Jerry Beach and his better half, Michelle.  After talking a few minutes with Jerry, Tieff came up with the idea that we should try to change our luck and change our seats.  Since no one was sitting behind Jerry and Michelle (the crowd was listed at over 1500), we decided we would sit behind them.  We were joined later by my friend Jeff, a colleague of mine at work. Together we all watched the second half unfold.

The second half saw Hofstra come out on a 7-1 spurt to cut the lead to 30-28 with sixteen and a half minutes left.  The score remained within two to five points in favor of Drexel for the next several minutes until Hofstra scored four straight points, the last two by Shemiye McLendon and Hofstra had their first lead since early in the first half, 40-39.  The crowd was finally into the game including the large Drexel contingent behind their bench.

The lead was short lived as McLendon missed a chance to extend the lead with a three pointer, but Chris Fouch didn't miss his three pointer and the Dragons were back out in front 42-40.  Dwan McMillan tied the game back up with a layup.  But then Drexel worked it inside and scored the next six points to go ahead 48-42 with two and half minutes left.

But Hofstra didn't quit and chipped away at the lead again, helped by a three point play by David Imes and a three pointer by Mike Moore with thirty five seconds left which cut the Dragons lead to 51-50.  It was the Pride's first and only successful three pointer on the night.  Hofstra tried to force a turnover in the backcourt, but had to foul with twenty five seconds left.   Frantz Massenat hit the first free throw, but missed the second.

Hofstra had the ball and a chance to tie the game.  Mike Moore drove down what appeared to be an open lane.   As he went for the game tying layup, he collided with a Drexel player.  The referee blew his whistle.

Moore was called for an offensive foul on a very questionable call.  Drexel ball.

After the Dragons inbounded the ball, Shemiye McLendon fouled Damion Lee.  Lee hit both free throws. Then off a Pride miss and a long outlet pass, Lee scored the final two points on an emphatic dunk.  Drexel escaped the rockfight with a 56-50 win.

When it came down to it, two statistics jumped out and they were not in Hofstra's favor. First, the Pride shot nine of nineteen from the charity stripe.  Second, the Pride hit only one three pointer out of thirteen attempts. In a low scoring game, those stats come back to haunt you.

Both teams played very hard in another typical Drexel-Hofstra rockfight.  There were forty seven fouls called in the game, which is typical in this series.  It was also the eleventh time that a Drexel-Hofstra game was decided by eight points or less since the 2003-04 season.  The Dragons emerged victorious and now have won five straight in conference.  The preseason CAA favorite is now tied for third place in conference in what they hope is the Year of the Dragon.

Meanwhile, the Pride left with another loss, their seventh straight in conference.  Five of their losses in conference are by six points or less and it was their fifth conference loss when they had either had a lead or were tied in the second half.  It doesn't get more frustrating than that.

Well, except for knowing that the tooth fairy doesn't bring wins.  I guess that's another certainty in life now.

Hofstra Gives Hope for the Holidays (Recap of Colgate vs. Hofstra)

Several days after their twenty point win over Binghamton, Hofstra was looking to make it two wins in a row against Colgate.  The Pride needed to get on a roll going into next week's important game against Iona, a team that many think is the best team in the local New York City area (with all apologies to Seton Hall fans).

It was the second Hofstra basketball game that I would be attending yesterday.  I took a half day off yesterday to watch the women's team rally and win an exciting contest over Marist 71-69 to take the championship of the New York Life Holiday Invitational.  Shante Evans dominated the court with a twenty nine point, eighteen rebound performance for the Lady Pride.   Now it was up to the men's team to provide a suitable encore in the nightcap.

The holidays are a wonderful time of year.  But they are also a detriment to the attendance of college basketball games.  The fall undergraduate session ended a few days earlier and there was barely any students in the Lions' Den Section last night.  The overall announced crowd was a little over 1,400, but it felt less to me, especially without rowdy students to harass the Colgate free throw shooters.

The game started out with Hofstra's number one gunslinger, Mike Moore shooting away at the Raiders. Moore buried three shots from beyond the arc and the Pride jumped out to a 17-7 lead with 15:13 left in the first half.   At the time, they were five of nine from the field and it looked like Hofstra, especially Moore, would shoot Colgate out of the Mack Center.

But as has happened many times over the course of this season so far, the Pride would suffer one of their extended shooting slumps.  Over the last fifteen plus minutes of the first half, Hofstra would shoot four of twenty one from the field, including missing their last six shots in the half.  This allowed Colgate to slowly work their way back into the game.  Over the last five plus minutes of the first half, the Raiders outscored the Pride 16-7 to cut the deficit to one, 35-34 at the half.  

Moore had nineteen of Hofstra's thirty five points in the first half.  The problem was the rest of the team combined for sixteen. On top of that, the Pride were shooting thirty percent from the field and no other player had more than five points.  

The halftime event was another CYO basketball game where the teams' colors were actually the same as the Colgate colors.  I had to check to see if we were at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, New York (home of Colgate University).  And actually, the Raiders brought a decent rooting section with them behind their bench.

At the start of the second half, Colgate had a chance to take their first lead of the game, but Mitch Rolls would miss a jumper.  It was the last chance the Raiders would have to take the lead the rest of the game. How the Pride would secure the win in the second half was possibly the most interesting dynamic so far this  season.

Before the game, Bryant Crowder left the Hofstra men's team for personal reasons.  He had been suspended most of the season and I happen to see in person two of the three games he played in for the Pride.  Combine that with starting point guard Steve Mejia out due to a lingering hamstring problem and Hofstra had only an eight men available to play last night.   It meant everyone had to step up for Coach Mo Cassara last night and they did so in the second half.

 But before they did so, a play occurred early in the second half with an interesting subplot, well perhaps interesting to only yours truly.  Colgate's Pat Moore committed a hard foul on Hofstra's Mike Moore, sending him crashing to the floor.  A flagrant foul was called resulting in free throws, Hofstra retaining the ball and Pat Moore being public enemy number one for the Hofstra fans the rest of the night.   There should be a law against "Moore on Moore Violence", especially when the author shares the same last name as the two players involved.  Also it should be noted that Pat is probably short for Patrick, which happens to be my older son Matthew's middle name as well as mine.  After the play, I publicly disavowed to my fellow season ticket holders around me of any relation to the Raiders' Moore.

After the "Moore on Moore Violence" occurred, Hofstra started to slowly pull away from Colgate.  What was once a one point lead was now, 54-43 with twelve and a half minutes remaining in the game.  There were encouraging signs.  Nat Lester had scored the most recent basket to put Hofstra up eleven.  It was his third field goal of the second half.  Also during this 19-9 run, Dwan McMillan had four points and three assists.  

The Raiders would continue to hang around for the next few minutes.  They actually were only down nine, 59-50 with about nine and half minutes left.  It seemed the Pride wouldn't be able to shake them.

But then Hofstra would seal the deal with a 14-3 spurt over the next five minutes.  And every one on the Pride contributed, as you can see pictured.  David Imes hit several shots. Shemiye McLendon buried jumper after jumper.  Dwan McMillan drove the lane, hit layups and had several more assists.  Moore ended the spurt with a layup and Hofstra was up 73-53 with a little more than four and half minutes left.  

The Pride would go onto win the game 82-57.  Hofstra would shoot nearly sixty eight percent from the field in the second half, outscoring Colgate 47-25 over the last twenty minutes.  The most amazing stat was that Mike Moore only contributed five of the forty seven points scored in the second half.  It was everyone else who "Put one foot in front of the other", to coin a famous holiday song, that gave the Pride their twenty five point win.

McLendon, the second coming of Vinnie Johnson, had seventeen points for the Pride, while McMillan had a double double with thirteen points and ten assists (with only two turnovers).  Imes added ten points and seven rebounds, while Lester also had ten points and nine rebounds.  And of course, Moore led the way with twenty four points.

The Pride gave the crowd a nice encore to the earlier Women's Basketball team's victory - a start to finish win.  And the Pride did it as a team, despite being shorthanded.  They gave their fans a nice early present before Christmas.  More importantly, Hofstra gave their fans hope that they can compete in the CAA when everyone on the team plays up to their skill level.  

And hope is what people, especially college basketball fans, need in the holiday season.

The Slide Continues as Hofstra Loses to Manhattan

Two weeks ago, I was heading home from Kingston, Rhode Island.  I had just watched Hofstra beat Cleveland State 63-53 in what basically amounted to a rock fight at the Legends Classic SubRegional at URI.  It was a gutty, winning performance by a Pride team that took the Vikings best punch in the mouth and came back with multiple shots to their opponent's head.  They outworked, out-shot, out-defended and out-rebounded a team that had won road games at Vanderbilt and Kent State earlier in the season.   Cleveland State hasn't lost a game since that loss to Hofstra.

As I drove back home to Long Island that night, savoring my victory burger and chocolate banana shake from the awesome Jake's Wayback Burgers in Mystic, Connecticut,  I couldn't help but think about the possibilities with this Hofstra team.  I had watched Bryant Crowder play his first two games of the season at Rhode Island.  He gave them an inside scoring presence, height and serious attitude.  The Pride now had a nine deep rotation, with Steven Nwaukoni, Shemiye McLendon, Dwan McMillan and Crowder giving good contributions off the bench.  And they had a legitimate big time scorer in Mike Moore.  

Even though they were only 3-3 after the win over the Vikings, the Pride had been competitive in all their games. They had the impressive win over LIU and a gut check win over St. Francis. They hung tough against a good Oregon State team in Corvallis.  They lost by two to a Florida Atlantic team that had the best record in the Sun Belt last season.  And they rallied after being down nineteen against Rhode Island to keep the game close against the Rams.  I really thought the big win against Cleveland State was going to be the start of something special for the Pride.

But the next day the struggles began for Hofstra in the final game of the Legends Classic.  As I was following the game on my IPhone at my nephew's baptism in a church up in Wappinger Falls, they had a seven point lead over Boston University with ten minutes left.  They proceeded to shoot 2 of 15 the rest of the way in losing to the Terriers 68-61.  Starting point guard Steve Mejia injured his hamstring during the loss to BU and Crowder was suspended again for violation of team rules.

But last Saturday, despite being down two players, Hofstra started out well at home against James Madison.   They were up nine points at home on JMU with about eleven minutes left.  But, again they hit a cold spell, going 1 of  8 from the field.  They would lose to the Dukes 62-60 on a Humpty Hitchens jumper with three seconds left.

Then this Tuesday night, as I watched the Wagner streaming video feed at home, the Pride completely unraveled in the second half against the Seahawks, losing 58-43 to Team Hurley.  What I thought two weeks ago was going to be a springboard to a season of success turned out to be the last win Hofstra had going into today.  Hopefully home cooking would be the remedy to what ailed the Pride.

My son Matthew and I took our usual seats in Section 111, Row D.  It turned out to be Hofstra Fan Appreciation Day and there were a ton of boy scouts in the building today.  They came out on to the arena floor holding a giant American flag as the national anthem was beautifully sung.  Matthew and I had a feeling of hope that this was this day that Hofstra turned the tide.

But that hope was quickly dashed as they struggled out of the gate.   While the fans in my section stood at the request of the dance team until Hofstra scored a point, the Pride had three turnovers and missed their first three shots in the first nearly four minutes of the game  Amazingly, Hofstra was tied with Manhattan at two after a Moore jumper with 16:50 left.  We could finally sit down.

But the Jaspers would then make us wish we had stayed standing, as they went on a 21-4 run over the next seven minutes and forty five seconds.  Manhattan buried three three pointers and George Beamon hit an old fashioned three point play to put the Jaspers up 23-6 with nine minutes left in the first half.    I sat in my seat dumbfounded as Matthew sat next to me showing his frustration.

But Hofstra finally found their shooting touch and went on a 14-2 run of their own over the next four minutes. Moore's jumper made the score 25-20 with 5:04 left and the crowd was finally into the game.  After a missed free throw by Manhattan's Liam McCabe Moran,  Moore had a chance to cut it to two points, but his three pointer rimmed in and out.

The Jaspers would respond with a 9-1 spurt to end the half.  Hofstra would miss all seven of its shots and commit three turnovers in the last five minutes.  The Pride would walk into the locker room down 34-21 at halftime.

A youth basketball team from Syosset was the halftime entertainment as they played split squad half court games.  They handled the ball better than Manhattan and Hofstra, who had combined in the first half for twenty one turnovers.  Coach Mo Cassara was so upset at his team that they didn't go back onto the court until three minutes left before the start of the second half.

Unfortunately the long half time talk with his team didn't help the Pride.  The Jaspers actually extended their lead to fifteen, 52-37  with a little less than eight and a half minutes left .  Things were looking bleak for the Pride and I had not heard the Lions Den student section so quiet in such a long time.

However, the Pride didn't quit.  Nathaniel Lester, who had been quiet for most of the game and spent a good part of the second half on the bench, came alive in the final few minutes.  Lester and Moore keyed a 9-1 spurt over the next nearly two and half minutes.  A Lester layup cut the lead to seven, 53-46 with six minutes left.

But just when it seemed Hofstra was on the verge of making it a game, Manhattan responded.  Beamon buried a three pointer and Emmy Andujar followed with a layup, and the Jaspers were up by twelve, 58-46 with a little less than four minutes left.

The Pride would have one last mini spurt in them.  Lester would score five consecutive points and the lead again was cut to seven, 62-55 with three minutes left.  But once again, the Jaspers responded.  Rhamel Brown, who had his way inside in the second half for Manhattan, scored five of the next six points for the Jaspers.  Manhattan was back up 68-55 with two minutes left and many of the 2,800 that were in attendance headed for the exits.

Very few people were left in the stands when the buzzer sounded on Manhattan's 68-59 win over Hofstra.  Moore led all scorers with twenty points but he didn't have much help.  Lester scored eleven points, but most of them came in the final few minutes of the game.  Manhattan had much more balance as Beamon had fourteen points, while Brown had a double double with fourteen points and eleven rebounds. Andujar and McCabe Moran each added ten for the Jaspers.

Matthew and I made our way over to commiserate with Defiantly Dutch after the game. The Dutchman and I were both at a loss for words.  The Pride had now lost four in a row and both of us had to think about what good came out of the game. Finally, I said my goodbye to the Dutchman as Matthew and I had to head home to meet up with my wife and younger son to get a Christmas tree.

Two weeks ago, I was driving home, enjoying a delicious meal, looking forward to what seemed to be a hopeful season.  Tonight, I drove home dismayed and speechless.  Hofstra got outworked, out-shot, out-defended and out-rebounded by Manhattan.   I was left wondering if my team was going to be able to turn their season around.

It's amazing how one's perception can change in the span of fourteen days.

Humpty Causes Hofstra a Great Fall

Sometimes, there are long stretches where one team has another team's number.  When Hofstra first joined the CAA in 2001, they lost their first three games in conference with James Madison and had lost four in a row overall to JMU.  But starting in 2004, the Pride have gone on a twelve game winning streak vs. the Dukes.

Though the series record indicates one team's dominance over another, the results have been quite close.  During Hofstra's streak vs. JMU, nine of the twelve games were decided by seven points or less.  Three of the games went into overtime; a 92-90 win in January of this year, a 99-96 double overtime game in February 2009 and the all time gem, a 95-88 triple overtime game in February 2005.

So when the Dukes made the all familiar trip to Hempstead yesterday to face the Pride in the conference season opening game for both teams, it seemed one thing would be certain. It would be a close game.  And sure enough, the game lived up to that billing.

My older son Matthew was looking forward to yesterday.   For not only was there a basketball game, but Saturday was the long awaited day for putting up the Christmas decorations outside our house.  Now for me, I actually enjoy decorating for Halloween, not so much for Christmas.  But to placate a six year old boy and his four year old brother, I took down the decorations from the garage and spent the better part of the late morning and afternoon hanging Christmas lights and getting out several decorative inflatables.  Needless to say I was happy to leave for the basketball game when it was time.

The game started out with JMU's leading scorer on the season, A.J. Davis picking up two quick fouls in the first five minutes. But Madison hung in there, thanks in large part to their offensive rebounding. In the first half, the Dukes had eleven offensive rebounds which led to eleven second chance points.  JMU took a 22-17 lead with 7:45 left in the first half on a three pointer by Armon Marks, which was their only successful three point shot at that time.  The Dukes, the best three point shooting team in the CAA, would be only two of eleven from beyond the arc in the first half.

While JMU's leading scorer was on the bench with as many fouls as points, two, Hofstra's leading scorer for the season, Mike Moore, was basically unstoppable.  Moore hit four three pointers in the first half  (Hofstra was 5 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first half) and scored twenty of Hofstra's thirty one points.  After the Dukes had taken that five point lead, the Pride would go on a 14-2 run, with Moore scoring half those points.

However, JMU coach Matt Brady made a critical decision with a minute left in the half.  He went for a two for one possession.  The Dukes would miss two three pointers on their first possession and a Moore jumper would be the final points for Hofstra in the first half.  But due to the two for one possession, the Dukes got the ball back and called timeout.  Off the timeout, Humpty Hitchens, another transfer from Akron, hoisted a sixty foot prayer right before the buzzer.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...net.

The officials reviewed the play to make sure the shot came before the buzzer, which it clearly did from our vantage point.  The officials confirmed that it was good.  And due to the Dukes second only successful three pointer in the half, instead of Hofstra going into the half up seven, they were only up four, 31-27.  Hofstra coach Mo Cassara was none too pleased, as if he knew that shot might come back to haunt the Pride.

At half time, there was your classic youth basketball game for entertainment.  But Matthew was pleading for me to get him a pretzel.  And since I can't say no to my cute six year old son, we waited on a long concession line while I tweeted updates on the game.

It was clear at the start of the second half that Coach Matt Brady told his team "Whatever you do, don't let Mike Moore beat us."  And the Dukes took him out of the game.  For the better part of the last twenty minutes, Moore barely touched the ball.  He would only have five shot attempts in the second half, hitting only one of those.

But early on, it didn't seem to affect the Pride.  Hofstra actually extended it's lead using a 10-2 run.  After Nathaniel Lester hit his first three pointer since the first game of this season, the Pride were up 43-33.   The lead was still ten, 47-37 after a Stephen Nwaukoni layup with a little more than eleven minutes remaining in the game.  JMU looked off in their shot selection and the rest of the Hofstra players were chipping in despite Moore being held scoreless.

But twice already in this early season, Hofstra had similar leads, only to see them evaporate and lose the game.  Against Florida Atlantic, the Pride were up 36-27 before going on a three for eighteen shooting drought and lost 62-60.  Against Boston University, the Pride were up 42-35 before shooting two of fifteen for the rest of the game and lost 68-61.  

Unfortunately for Hofstra, history would repeat itself yesterday.   With Moore being held scoreless, the Pride would shoot one of eight from the field over the next seven minutes. Meanwhile, JMU's vaunted three point shooting came to life.  Hitchens nailed two three pointers and Julius Wells added one as well.  The Dukes went on a 13-3 run and tied the game at fifty on Alioune Diouf jumper with six and half minutes left.

The Pride would retake the lead in large part to guard Shemiye McLendon.  First McLendon gave a pretty feed to forward Moussa Kone for a resounding dunk.  Then McLendon channeled his inner Vinnie Johnson (they wear the same jersey number, 15), and buried a slightly off balance eighteen foot jumper.  Hofstra was back up 56-52 with three minutes left.

After the teams traded turnovers and Hofstra's Dwan McMillan missed an open jumper, Davis came alive for James Madison.  First, he buried a three pointer to cut the lead to one, 56-55.  Then after a turnover by McLendon, the Dukes called timeout.  My friend Mal predicted that they would call a play for Davis.  Sure enough, off the inbounds play, they got it to Davis, who hit a layup and was fouled by Kone.   He would hit the free throw for the three point play. James Madison was up for the first time since four minutes remaining in the first half, 58-56 with a minute left in the game.

But Hofstra finally got Moore involved after JMU's imposed nineteen minute sabbatical.  Moore hit two free throws for his first points of the second half and the game was tied at fifty eight.  But Hitchens, the proverbial thorn in the Pride's side, nailed a jumper to put Madison up two, 60-58 with thirty nine seconds left.

To Hofstra's credit, they didn't waste time with the ball and went after a good shot immediately. That good shot was a Moore layup that tied the game at sixty with twenty six seconds left.   JMU wound down the clock and with about three seconds left, Hitchens hit another jumper over McMillan's outstretched hand.  The Dukes were up 62-60, but Moore had one last chance.  He hoisted a sixty footer from almost the same exact location Hitchens hit his three pointer at the end of the first half.

As the buzzer sounded...nothing...but...backboard.

James Madison had won 62-60.  Hitchens' sixty footer at the end of the half did come back to haunt Hofstra.  He led JMU with twenty points, while Davis had ten of his twelve points in the second half.  Moore had twenty four to lead all scorers, but the Dukes holding him in check in the second half was huge.  David Imes was the only other double figure scorer for Hofstra with ten points.

For once, a Humpty caused someone else's great fall.  All the Hofstra players and all the Hofstra fans couldn't keep the streak alive again.   After twelve straight losses, the Dukes finally had a win against the Pride.

Lightning Can Strike Twice as Florida Atlantic Beats Hofstra Again

It was a rainy Tuesday night in Hempstead, New York.  I guess that was partly the reason for the sparse crowd at the Hofstra Mack Center.  The other reason might have been that there were no classes for undergraduate students on Wednesday for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  Thus the Lions Den student section was not even half full.   I wonder how many of the 1,436 that were in attendance last night knew that this was a return match up from last season.

Last December on this very court, Florida Atlantic held off Hofstra 63-59 as Greg Gantt and Raymond Taylor combined for 31 points in the victory.  The Owls also out-rebounded the Pride 30-21.  Gantt, Taylor and five other Owls from last season returned for FAU in this contest.

The Pride's Mike Moore was looking to have a much better game this time around after only scoring eight points in last season's contest.  Hofstra was shooting 48.6 percent from the field on the season. Moore was largely responsible, shooting 50 percent from the field entering the game vs. FAU while averaging 20.7 points per game.

The two teams played a very close first half.   There were three ties and the largest lead by any team was five points (twice by Hofstra).  There was a large disparity in free throws as the Owls were 5 of 8 from the line while the Pride were 11 of 14.   Throw in Hofstra outscoring FAU  7-1 on second chance points and thus you had a Pride halftime lead at 32-27.

Even though the Lions' Den section was decimated by turkey day travel plans, they were very creative when it came to the Owls' diminutive guard Raymond Taylor, who is generously listed at 5 foot 6.  The Lions' Den serenaded Taylor with chants of "Booster Seat", "Ooompa Loompa" and of course everyone's favorite "Gary Coleman".  Due to Taylor's four fouls, his time with his new admirers was limited.

After saying hi to an old friend up in the second level,  my older son Matthew and I headed out to the Mack Center lobby during halftime and signed up for the free Junior Pride Club membership.  Matthew got a free T-shirt and wasted no time in putting it on before the start of the second half.

Hofstra also wasted no time at the start of the second half.  Baskets by Steve Mejia, who had his best game all season for the Pride, and Moore put Hofstra up nine, 36-27.   It looked like the Pride might be pulling away from the Owls.

But during a timeout, Mike Jarvis did a hockey line change and that seemed to awaken FAU.  The Owls went on a 13-0 run capped by a Omari Grier three pointer, one of eight on the night for Florida Atlantic, and FAU was up 40-36.   After Hofstra responded with four straight points to tie the game at 40 with 12:22 left, Mike Jarvis brought Gantt back in the game.

Gantt took over the game from there.  He hit a three, then followed with a layup to put the Owls back up five, 45-40.  However, the Pride came back with the next six points, with Moore scoring four of them to put Hofstra back up one, 46-45.   The Pride would maintain the lead, 51-49 with 5:08 left, but Gantt wasn't done yet.

Gantt would score on FAU's next four possessions.  The last one was a huge three pointer that put the Owls up two 58-56 with 1:24 left after Moore had hit three free throws to put Hofstra up one.  But when Gantt responded, Moore responded back.   Moore would hit another two free throws to tie the game at fifty eight with fifty eight seconds left.  Hofstra called a thirty second timeout.

Here's where a coach's decision led to the final score.  In this case, Mike Jarvis did something that my friends Mal, Tieff and I believe in, but rarely see.  I turned to Tieff during the timeout and asked "Do you think Jarvis will do a 'two for one' here?"   This means that the Owls could quickly get a shot off within ten-fifteen seconds on their first possession. Then the Pride would have at most thirty five seconds to take their shot, leaving time left on the clock for one more possession/shot by FAU.   Thus, a two for one possession.

Well, FAU took only fourteen seconds as Alex Tucker hit a jumper to put the Owls back up two, 60-58.  Hofstra quickly responded, as who else, Moore, hit two free throws to tie the game at sixty with twenty six seconds left.   But this setup FAU for the last possession with the shot clock turned off.  The Owls ran time off the clock.  With the clock winding down, Tucker again took the shot, an off balance layup that somehow bounced into the basket.  There were only 2.4 seconds left on the clock and Hofstra was down 62-60.

Coach Mo Cassara called timeout and setup a play.   When Hofstra came out in their set, Jarvis immediately called timeout to change his defense.   With all the fans standing up, Hofstra inbounded the ball.  Mejia tossed the ball to Lester on the baseline, who threw a baseball pass down the court trying to hit Moore.  However, both Moore and the FAU defender both went for the pass.   The ball deflected off them and as time expired, Shemiye McLendon literally batted the ball into the basket.

However, it was clear from our vantage point that the buzzer had clearly sounded before McLendon hit the ball.   After the officials reviewed the play and officially stated no the basket, Jarvis raised his fists in triumph.  FAU had held on for the 62-60 victory, their second consecutive victory over Hofstra.  It was also their third victory over a CAA team this season (the Owls also defeated George Mason and Georgia State).

Gantt was dominant in the last final twelve plus minutes, scoring fourteen of his twenty one points on the night.   The only other Owl in double figures was Pablo Bertone with eleven points.   FAU shot eight of nineteen from beyond the arc and shot forty two percent on the night.

Moore led the Pride with twenty points.  Mejia added fourteen and McLendon came off the bench to add twelve points.  The Pride shot twenty of twenty three from the free throw line, but they had by far their worst outing from the field on the season.  Hofstra shot twenty six percent from the field in the second half and thirty percent overall. Strangely, the Pride were four of seven from beyond the arc.  The bright side is that Hofstra continues to improve on their rebounding from last season.  The Pride out-rebounded the Owls forty two to thirty four, which included twenty offensive rebounds for Hofstra.

We said our goodbyes to Tieff, as well as Defiantly Dutch and his much better half, Michelle.  As my older son and I made our trek back to our car in a cold downpour, it seemed appropriate for the evening.  For the second year in a row, Gantt rained on Hofstra's parade, so why shouldn't Mother Nature rain on ours as well.

I hope she is more kind when I head up to Rhode Island on Friday for a weekend of hoops.

(This will also be posted on Mid Majority's 800 Games Played Project.  I will link to that here when it is on the site.)

Post Game Thoughts From Hofstra - Oregon State

It actually seemed like a hot summer night in November in Corvalis, Oregon as Oregon State hosted Hofstra  in a regional round TicketCity Legends Classic game.   The game was close throughout, but the Beavers held off the Pride 82-72 in a game that ended early after midnight New York time.  As I followed the game on the WRHU and Oregon State TV feeds, a lot of things stood out, both good and bad.

• Hofstra had good balance.  Four players scored in double figures with Mike Moore leading the way with sixteen points, David Imes had fifteen and seven rebounds and Nathaniel Lester and Shemiye McLendon each had twelve points.  Steve Mejia added nine points.
• The Pride shot well from the field, shooting 48 percent and were 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.  
• McLendon was particularly huge off the bench. With Lester in foul trouble in the first half, McLendon kept them in the game. 
• Despite scoring nine points, Mejia again struggled.  He had five turnovers with no assists and was 0 for 3 from the foul line.  The air ball on an one and one attempt with 6:52 left with Hofstra down 62-60 was a crucial moment in the game.
• Dwan McMillan again had a good game off the bench, playing twenty five minutes and managing to anger the Corvalis faithful with his tenacious play.
• The best team in free throw shooting in the CAA last season again struggled from the line.  The Pride shot 19 of 30 from the line.  Lester and Mejia were a combined 0 for 5 and Mike Moore, the second best FT shooter in the CAA last season was 5 for 8.  Definite room for improvement.
• A bigger concern though is the assists to turnover ratio.  The team that led the CAA last season in assists to turnover ratio had fifteen turnovers and seven assists.  It starts with Mejia, who needs to play like he did at Rhode Island.
• The Pride held their own on the boards vs. Oregon State.  The Beavers barely out rebounded the Pride 31-30.  Definitely an improvement so far from last season.
• Hofstra's bench outscored Oregon State's 20-9.  
• Still, Lester and Moussa Kone fouled out for the Pride and the bench got a little thin at the end.  I am hoping we might see Bryant Crowder soon.  
• Oregon State has a pretty good team.  They have a stud in Jared Cunningham.  He put in thirty five points against the Pride.  He went to the free throw line SEVENTEEN times.  That's Jenkinsesque.  
• But it's not a solo act for the Beavers.  Devon Collier gave the Pride fits, scoring twenty five points. Also, Jared Burton had an unusual double double with eleven assists and ten rebounds.  
• However, Oregon State could work on their free throw shooting as well.  26 of 40 is nothing to write home about. 
• As noted, the game was close throughout.  The lead changed five times. Oregon State's largest lead was ten points and that was with 1:10 left in the game (and of course the final score).  There was no shame in this loss for the Pride.

It was a good test for the Pride and though the final score doesn't indicate they passed the test, they played well.  As noted, there are things to improve on and the next chance for improvement is Saturday vs. Saint Francis.   The only way to find out if they improve is to Pack the Mack and see the game live for yourselves.