By Nick Bond
A young team is always an inexperienced team, but that same team is not necessarily a poor one, as was proven in the Pride men’s basketball team hard fought loss to their conference rival, the Seahawks of UNC-Wilmington, 87-83. The men were a misplayed fast break and a more productive overtime period away from a win in a game that was, despite the loss, their best game of the year.
Others did not give as favorable review of the game, most notably Pride Coach Tom Pecora, who said emphatically, “It’s unacceptable, we don’t lose at home. We got the opportunity to get the game into overtime and we don’t put them away.”
As has happened all season, the Pride stumbled out of the gates, trailing 15-6, before regaining their composure and sprinting ahead as a result of a 24-9 run. They maintained their six-point lead going into the half, led by Senior Antoine Agudio, who had 13 of his game-high 34 points in the half, while holding the Seahawk’s best player, T.J. Carter, to only 7. Furthering the Hofstra cause in the first half were the solid performances by freshmen swingmen Charles Jenkins and Nathaniel Lester, who had 8 and 7 points on the half, respectively.
Things would not go as well for the team in the proceeding period, and by the second part of the second half, they had given up their lead on a jumper by Seahawks Forward Vladimir Kuljanin, who had a double-double in the half with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Despite such a devastating collapse, the Pride scratched their way back into the game, pulling within one with 17 seconds.
It was at this point where the team’s inexperience came into play, as a mishandled pass on the fast break by freshmen phenomenon Charles Jenkins, cost the team a chance to clinch the game.
Jenkins who had an otherwise excellent game with 16 points, explained what happened in the post game press conference, saying, “”I was worried about getting the ball and scoring instead of actually just getting the ball.” He continued, “at that time, I was anxious to complete the play but the ball just slipped out of my hand.”
The miscue would have been all-the-more debilitating if not for a miracle shot by fellow Freshmen Lester, who had consoled Jenkins on his misfortunes moments previous. The shot, a beautifully arching rainbow with a hand in his face, would be the thing needed to catapult the team to overtime. The freshmen, who had his best game of the season so far, was unsurprisingly modest after the game, simply saying, “I got an open look and I got lucky and knocked it down”.
Unfortunately for the Pride, they seemed to use all of their energy and luck on getting into overtime, and seemed to have nothing left in the extra period. They only managed to score 6 points in the final five minutes, they were out rebounded and out shot from the foul line, and the deft foul shooting touch of the Seahawks would prove to be insurmountable, as were they downed by the final tally of 87 to 83
Charles Jenkins blocks a shot by UNC-W’s T.J. Carter. Jenkins proved throughout the game that he was both an offensive and defensive force. (Stephen Cooney)