The Hofstra University men’s basketball team struggled to find answers against Campbell University on Saturday, Feb. 1, as they lost 75-52. This loss worsened the Pride’s record to 4-6 in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), while Campbell added to their win streak and improved to 7-3 in the conference.
Hofstra trailed 43-20 at halftime and the first half was capped off by a half-court buzzer-beater from Colby Duggan of the Fighting Camels. Duggan and Nolan Dorsey each scored 15 points and Campbell shot over 51% as a team.
“It was a tough outing – the last couple of games, we threw the first punch, and we punched the other team in the mouth, but today we got punched,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “We let their best player get a catch-and-shoot driving layup to start the game and that was the tone-setter. We just got to bounce back from this.”
Campbell went on a 19-2 run in the final five and a half minutes of the first half, which put the Fighting Camels in complete control of the game.
“The gameplan was to make some of their non-shooters make shots, but to their credit they made shots,” Claxton said. “They really dug in on the defensive end and it was tough for us to run plays. But hats off to Campbell, they’re a really good team. They’re well-coached and outplayed us today.”
In their first meeting on Saturday, Jan. 25, the Pride smothered Campbell defensively and led in the rebound margin. In this game, however, Campbell made the adjustments and dominated Hofstra as a result. Coming into the contest, Campbell forced 13.2 turnovers per game. The Pride turned the ball over eight times in the first half and 12 times total.
While it’s going to be an uphill battle for Hofstra moving forward, they have eight more games left and only one of them is against an opponent with a winning record. The CAA is wide open, giving the Pride a glimmer of hope. If they get hot, anything is possible. Hofstra has had a history of hitting their stride towards the middle of February, but due to the recent struggles, they must get hot sooner rather than later.
“[We’ve] got to try to win two at home, got to protect the home court,” Claxton said.
Actions in the game can also have a direct impact on the following contests: just over 13 minutes into the second half, Dorsey knocked down a 3-pointer to extend the team’s lead to 32 points. Dorsey then clapped in Joshua DeCady’s face and tempers flared. Both players were ejected from the game and both players will be suspended one game as consequence.
The Pride is back in action against Northeastern University on Thursday, Feb. 6. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
