By Ed Morrone
For the first 20 minutes in Saturday’s game at Delaware, it appeared the men’s basketball team was headed for the worst-a letdown loss two days after a season-changing victory. That is, until Antoine Agudio stepped in.
The sophomore guard scored 17 of his career-high 30 points in the second half, leading the Pride to a 77-62 victory over the Blue Hens. Less than 48 hours after senior forward Aurimas Kieza beat conference rival Old Dominion with a three-pointer at the buzzer, the Pride trailed 32-29 at the half at the hands of Delaware, a team that came into the game with an overall record of 6-14. However, Agudio caught fire after the break and the Pride outscored the Hens, 48-30.
“Down three at the half, we knew it was going to be a battle,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “I knew we were mentally strong enough, but there was some physical grogginess. Delaware was playing very hard, but we were able to shake it off and come out to make some plays.”
The win was the fourth straight for the Pride, and the winning streak has vaulted the team (at least for the time being) into third place in the ultra-competitive CAA. The Pride improved to 9-3 in conference play, putting it one-half game behind second place UNC Wilmington and 1 ½ games behind first place George Mason (11-2). However, the Pride cannot afford to relax anytime soon, as Virginia Commonwealth, ODU and Northeastern all check in at 9-4, creating a six-team logjam atop the standings all within two games of first place.
“I’ve said it all along that it doesn’t really matter who you’re playing [in the conference],” Pecora said. “We have to keep pace.”
The Pride was able to complete the season sweep of Delaware in large part due to Agudio, who scored in every way possible. He shot 11-for-21 from the field (3-for-5 on threes), grabbed five rebounds and turned it over only twice. This performance more than made up for a banged up Loren Stokes, who managed just 10. Kieza followed his game-winning shot with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
“Coach gave me a talk about making my offense and defense better,” Agudio said. “I knew offense was going to come to me.”
The Pride also did an impressive job in containing Harding Nana, Delaware’s best player and one of the top players in the conference. Nana, who averages 19.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in the CAA, could muster only 16 and six.
“It was very important for us to set the tempo early,” center Adrian Uter said. “We were able to make some adjustments and get the ‘W’.”
The Pride will travel to ninth-place Georgia State (3-10) on Thursday before Saturday’s huge home contest against Northeastern. The Huskies are the last team to beat the Pride, dominating the Blue & Gold in an 89-73 yawner on Jan. 21 in Boston. The Pride will be hungry for revenge, but first must concentrate on Georgia State, who, despite struggling in its first year in the CAA, will be looking to play spoiler to the teams vying for a top-four spot in the conference tournament.
With Agudio supplanting Stokes and the rest of the offense, the Pride look to turn these lofty expectations into reality come March.
