The Hofstra University men’s basketball team’s longest losing streak of the season reached five games after a 66-64 loss to the College of Charleston on Thursday, Jan. 29. The defeat dropped the Pride from second to eighth in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) standings.
“Way too many mental mistakes,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “Especially in transition, not sprinting back, not loading to the basketball. [We had] too many guys just relaxing on defense. [We] need to be always ready to go.”
Hofstra’s offensive centerpiece all season has been junior guard Cruz Davis, the nation’s 12th leading scorer. Davis endured a difficult night, entering halftime with just two points. The struggles continued after the break, as he snapped a 22-game streak of scoring in double figures, finishing with seven points on 3-16 shooting.
“[Davis] just had an off night,” Claxton said. “I thought he passed up some shots throughout the game when he did have some good looks. This is one game that he had an off night.”
With Hofstra’s leading scorer unable to find a rhythm, others answered the call. Senior guard Biggie Patterson was dominant, leading the Pride in scoring with 21 points and a monstrous 11 rebounds.
“He gave us great minutes,” Claxton said. “That’s what we expect from him, we rely on him, [Davis and Preston Edmead] pretty much every night.”
The Pride also received a strong performance from freshman guard Edmead, who finished with 18 points and a game-high seven assists. Despite the loss, Edmead remains confident in the Pride as they continue to navigate the current losing streak.
“I don’t think we’re too concerned,” Edmead said. “We just need to bounce back because I still feel like we have a really good team.”
Hofstra carried a 30-23 advantage into halftime and continued to build on that momentum early in the second half. Sixteen minutes and 54 seconds into the game, Patterson knocked down a 10-foot floater off a dime from Edmead, pushing the Pride’s lead to 11.
However, the Cougars didn’t back down from the daunting lead and made a strong surge led by Jlynn Counter. The senior guard led all scorers with 22 points and had a team-high five assists.
Charleston seized control with a 16-3 surge while Hofstra’s offense went stale, going scoreless for over three minutes.
Six minutes and 26 seconds into the quarter, Counter buried a pair from the charity stripe, putting Charleston in front for the first time since early in the first half.
Charleston went up by six late in the second half, but the Pride had one last push to cut the lead back down to two points with five seconds remaining in the game.
After being the hero all night, Counter was one inbound play away from sealing the win but failed to inbound the ball with five seconds left.
In the last four seconds of the game, Davis rushed a 3-pointer that missed the mark, Edmead grabbed the rebound yet his last-second heave fell just short, bringing Hofstra’s comeback bid to an end.
The Pride desperately looked to snap their five-game losing streak on Saturday, Jan. 21, on the road against Monmouth University at The OceanFirst Bank Center. Tipoff was set for 2 p.m.
