By Ed Morrone

After Saturday’s frustrating 87-83, conference-opening overtime loss to UNC-Wilmington, this much remains certain for the Hofstra men’s basketball team: nothing is certain.

In what is already shaping out to a nothing-is-as-it-seems type of season, Saturday was the indicator. It was an upsetting loss, the worst kind in fact: You know, one of those “Get up by eight points, looks like things are going well until other team takes five point lead late in second half only to have Hofstra send it to overtime with a tenth of a second left-then lose in overtime” types of game.

After a defeat like that, there’s only one thing to do, and that’s tackle this thing head on. Four games in and a 1-3 record later, what do we know about this team?

For starters, Antoine Agudio is good. Really good. But you knew that already. Still, on this day, Agudio converted on 13 of 22 field goal attempts, getting him 34 points closer to Steve Nisenson’s all-time record. (Update: Agudio has 1,766 career points and at this rate looks like he could pass Nisenson’s 2,222 by Christmas if he wanted to.)

We also know that redshirt freshman Charles Jenkins is pretty good as well. Jenkins, who has only played in four career games, looks like a seasoned vet out there at times, and his 16 points on Saturday elevated his scoring average to almost 13 points per game. Jenkins is the type of guy that can keep fans excited even after (gasp!) Agudio graduates next year.

The nearly 3,000 fans in attendance also got a pleasant surprise on Saturday: they got to know Nathaniel Lester. Like Jesús Shuttlesworth in “He Got Game,” this cat can ball. Don’t believe me? Use his 17 points off the bench as a prime example, the biggest three of which came on a money three-pointer with a tenth of a second left in regulation to save the Pride from defeat, albeit temporarily. (By the way, seeing a player wearing No. 1 making clutch shots reminded everyone of one Loren Stokes. Must be some magic in the jersey.)

So you ask, how can a team get one superhuman effort and two other very solid ones and still lose? Well, for one, UNC-Wilmington is better than people think they are.

Designated Hofstra killer T.J. Carter was back, the first time the Pride had seen him since 2005, and he re-acquainted himself to everybody by posting a 23-point, eight-rebound, eight-assist performance. Vladimir Kuljanin (18 points, 16 rebounds), Todd Hendley (15 points), Daniel Fountain (11 points), Josh Sheets (10 points) all made themselves feel right at home at the Mack Sports Complex.

And let’s not forget Wilmington point guard Chad Tomko, who looked like he belonged on the “Hoosiers” movie set 20 years ago, nailing a 17-footer in overtime to give his team the lead, then grabbing a huge defensive rebound, then burying two free throws to pretty much ice the game.

But still, this was definitely a “what-if” game as well. For example, what if Agudio and Jenkins didn’t force the issue on a few shots in overtime? What if the Pride didn’t miss 10 free throws, lowering their percentage as a team to a dismal 62? What if Hofstra didn’t get outrebounded by 11 on their home floor? What if Jenkins didn’t turn the ball over on a rushed play with time winding down in regulation, a possession that could’ve won his team the game instead of having to resort to forcing overtime?

These are all important questions for a team still searching for an identity beyond Agudio, searching for that ever-important concept of respectability. As of now, it doesn’t look Tom Pecora and company are that much closer to finding either of these things.

And through four games, it’s extremely unfair to crucify this team, especially after it just lost its best player (Stokes) and its unquestioned leader on and off the court (Carlos Rivera). Pecora did say this team would take its lumps in the early going, and so far, he is absolutely correct. Losing that first conference game just sort of magnifies the way things are going, and at this point, that’s not very good.

Like a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, it’s always a struggle to put the pieces together right away, which is exactly the challenge this team is facing right now. But after seeing Agudio, Jenkins and Lester play the way they did on Saturday, it is clear that the pieces are in place.

That much, dare we say it, is certain.