The Hofstra University men’s basketball team saw its season come to a close on Friday, March 20, after falling 90-70 to the University of Alabama in the NCAA Tournament. With the loss, the Pride remain winless in five all-time tournament appearances dating back to 1976. This was Hofstra’s first berth since 2001.
“Proud of my guys’ effort today,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “I thought we really went out there and competed. Kind of tough to win a game when you give up 17 offensive rebounds. For a team like us in a tournament like this, we pretty much almost have to play perfect basketball, and today we didn’t play well enough to win this game.”
The first half belonged to the Pride early on, as the No. 13 seed team looked poised to shock the world against No. 4 Crimson Tide. Trailing 16-12 midway through the half, the Pride flipped the game on its head with a 9-0 burst sparked by their surging offense, led by back-to-back 3-pointers from Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year Cruz Davis and senior guard Biggie Patterson.
That momentum only built as Hofstra rattled off a 16-2 run, capped by a Joshua Aaron Reeves 3-point shot that pushed the Pride ahead by double digits with under 10 minutes to play in the half.
Alabama responded, answering with a run of their own and erasing the deficit, while seizing control late to take a 37-35 lead into halftime.
The second half opened with a 7-0 run from Alabama, giving them a 44-35 lead just two minutes into the period. The advantage quickly stretched to double digits with 16 minutes and 21 seconds remaining.
CAA Rookie of the Year Preston Edmead looked to carry over his conference tournament heroics after leading Hofstra to a title, and he delivered once again. Edmead led the Pride with 24 points while adding four rebounds and four assists, rounding out his freshman campaign with another impressive performance.
Edmead’s 24-point performance is the most points by a Hofstra player in March Madness since Richie Laurel scored 35 points against the University of Notre Dame in 1977.
“We know what we did was special,” Edmead said. “We can always look back on that. We made history. I’m just proud of my teammates.”
Four-year program veteran German Plotnikov closed out his career with the Pride on a strong note, scoring 12 points and knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. Plotnikov continued to set the tone early, becoming the Pride’s first scorer in all four of their postseason games.
“[We] got to embrace this moment,” Plotnikov said. “Not a lot of kids in college basketball get to do what we did – [I’m] not even just talking about Hofstra, just college players in general. It’s hard to get here and I’m happy me and my teammates got here. We’re extremely grateful to be here.”
The two sides traded blows, but Hofstra couldn’t cut the deficit to less than five. Alabama took control for good, closing the game on a decisive 19-4 run over the final four minutes and 40 seconds.
“I’m extremely proud,” Claxton said. “I knew we had a special team from day one. There wasn’t one day in practice or a game that they didn’t compete. [I’m] extremely happy to have been able to coach this team this year. We made history; we wanted to go further, but at the end of the day, we still did special things here.”
The Pride closed out a memorable season at 24-11 overall and 12-6 in CAA play, capturing their first conference championship since 2020 and earning a long-awaited return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years.
