By Angelo Brussich, Staff Writer
A packed Mack Sports Complex of 4,258 fans saw the Hofstra men’s basketball team defeat Iona College 83-75 for the Pride’s third straight victory. After a shaky first two months of the season, including a four game losing streak, Hofstra improves to 6-7 on the season.
“I think whenever you are going through a stretch where you aren’t playing real well, you’re trying to push and pull and find anything that’ll work and I think with that you almost become superstitious,” said Hofstra head coach Mo Cassara. “I don’t if anybody has noticed, but I’ve worn this suit the last three backboard.”
Lester, who has struggled of late to score points, felt that “seeing the ball go through the basket helps the confidence and puts the confidence in my teammates and helps us get on a tremendous.”
Halftime seemed to come at an inopportune time for Hofstra as it found itself stretching the lead over the Gaels to 15 at 43-28, but the Pride was able to keep up the intensity to begin the second half.
Like any high powered offense however, Iona’s offense began to click as it slowly chipped away at the Hofstra lead.
Iona senior forward Mike Glover provided a powerful presence, recording 20 points and 13 rebounds. His ferocity could be seen from the tip-off as his first six points came from three dunks. He shot 9-11 from the field.
Though Iona managed to chip into the lead, the major run and point swing never happened, which is a tribute to Hofstra’s offense managing to keep up with its opponents.
The teams began matching three-point shots and Iona could only come within seven points of the lead.
Freshman forward Moussa Kone provided the dagger with a fast break one-handed dunk with a minute remaining in the game, giving the Pride a nine point lead.
“I think we’ve hit a turning point for our team” said Cassara. “”We’ve been trying to push some different buttons and do some different things and really get a better sense of teams.”