The Hofstra University men’s basketball team saw its four-game winning streak come to an end in a 70-66 road loss to the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) on Saturday, Feb. 15. The matchup between the Coastal Athletic Association’s (CAA) No. 1 seed Seahawks and No. 3 seed Pride proved worthy of the matchup, featuring a back-and-forth battle that included 14 lead changes and 10 ties.
With the loss, Hofstra slipped to the No. 4 seed in the CAA, sitting just half a game behind third seeded Monmouth University.
“I thought we should’ve won the game,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “We did everything we needed to do in order to win the game. We’re going to see them again; they’re a good team. Hats off to them, they defended home court.”
The dynamic backcourt that Claxton assembled put on an electric show inside Trask Coliseum. Cruz Davis, the nation’s 16th-leading scorer, poured in a sensational game high of 22 points while knocking down three shots from deep. Davis was also the only member of the Pride to never leave the floor, logging all 40 minutes.
The other half of the Pride’s two headed monster, freshman guard Preston Edmead, nearly matched Davis. Edmead poured in 21 points while adding four assists and four rebounds, including two on the offensive glass. Hofstra’s backcourt duo combined for 43 of the Pride’s 66 points.
“They did what they do,” Claxton said. “Both of those guys were fantastic tonight; I thought the other guys came in and played their roles to perfection. I’m not mad at the way we played.”
This clash between CAA contenders was an evenly matched, all-out battle, with both teams mirroring each other in nearly every category. Hofstra took care of the basketball, turning it over just seven times, only one more than the Seahawks.
Rebounding – a key factor in many of the Pride’s victories this season – was nearly even as well, though Hofstra came up just short on the glass, losing the battle by two with UNCW pulling down 36 boards.
Outside of the Pride’s backcourt, only one Hofstra player reached double figures: Joshua DeCady. The sophomore forward helped shoulder the scoring load for the rest of the roster, finishing with 14 points on 55% shooting from the field while also grabbing five rebounds.
The next leading scorer for Hofstra was Biggie Patterson, who finished with just three points.
“DeCady was great,” Claxton said. “[Edmead] got off to a slow start and DeCady picked us up. That’s the mentality of this team, when one of those guys are having an off night, [someone will] pick us up.”
Despite the loss, Claxton remains highly confident in his team.
“[I’m] extremely proud,” Claxton said. “I love the way we went out there and competed … We’ll bounce back from it and we’ll learn from this.”
