Mike Rudin – Sports Editor
Eight straight losses occurred between the Hofstra Pride and the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens in the last three years, but Hofstra shattered the streak at the Mack with a 71-58 win against University of Delaware.
Hofstra bolsters their winning streak to four consecutive games now, including back-to-back conference games in the midst of the streak. The Pride improved to 11-4 (2-0, CAA) while the Fightin’ Blue Hens drop to 1-12 (0-2, CAA).
“Well we’re very glad for the win,” said head coach Joe Mihalich. “[We weren’t] as sharp as I liked to be. I thought our defense was good, and got a big boost from Rokas [Gustys].”
Four Pride players scored in double figures against UDel including Rokas Gustys with a double-double in the game with 11 points and 16 rebounds. Gustys also made five blocks in 20 minutes on the court. This is his first double-double in his collegiate career and his fifth time reaching double figures in rebounds this year.
“Now we got Moussa back and he’s getting his game speed back there and Rokas back,” said Mihalich. “That’s 19 points and 19 rebounds from that spot. The position the two split up. So that’s pretty good production.”
Moussa Kone and Rokas Gustys continue to make strides coming back from their injuries previously in the season. Both players complement each other in games and keep each other fresh on the court. Since Kone returned a couple weeks ago against Columbia, it allowed Gustys some breathing room to rest and work on his recovery.
“I’m getting better every day, every practice and this is my second game [back] so I’m trying to improve every time,” said Gustys.
Juan’ya Green led the Pride with 16 points and he made five rebounds. But Green had an up-and-down night with four assists and five turnovers. Juan’ya Green shot better, jumping from a .200 shooting percentage against UNC-Wilmington to .400 against Delaware with 6-of-15 attempts made. His passing was a bit off with the five turnovers committed.
“[He] could’ve had more assists, should’ve had fewer turnovers,” said Mihalich. “He did a couple careless — kind of lackadaisical — nonchalant turnovers. He was pretty sick tonight but as I said to him that you can’t make excuses. You got to fight through that…I think he’s an elite passer.”
Ameen Tanksley was the second-best shooter for the Pride against Delaware with 15 points in the game. Brian Bernardi shot 13 points overall in the game but led the Pride offense in the first half scoring 10.
The opening minutes of the game caught the Pride off-guard with Delaware taking an aggressive approach to outscore the Pride.
Hofstra dropped from a 2-0 lead to a five-point deficit in the first four minutes-and-50 seconds. Delaware gradually improve their lead to seven points over the Pride, leading 13-6 by the 12:16 mark in the first.
The reason for the sluggish start was due to the non-existent execution from the Pride. Hofstra shot 3-for-15 in the first eight minutes that greatly helped the Blue Hens take an early lead. Bernardi tried to get the Pride in motion making two of the three total shots inside the arc to limit the damage.
But the tables turned on UDel midway through the first half when the Pride went on a 15-0 run. Once the Pride got going, they simultaneously shut down the Fightin’ Blue Hens from scoring for a span of six minutes-and-37 seconds.
That moment became the turning point in the game which propelled the Pride to take an eight-point advantage, the highest point for Hofstra in the half.
Once the clock hit zero, the Pride ended the first half with a 27-22 lead over Delaware. Hofstra made great use scoring off of second chances with nine points compared to zero from Delaware.
Hofstra’s lead did not corrode once throughout the second that ultimately secured Hofstra a victory.
The Pride gradually outshot the Fightin’ Blue Hens 16-7 in a five minute-and-one second span to start the second half that took their lead to double figures. The biggest lead the Pride held was by 16 points that came at four different instances, during the 10:15, 5:38, 3:02 and 2:11 marks in the second half.
Juan’ya Green excelled in the second half with 13 points in the last 20 minutes of the game, Rokas Gustys scored nine points in the half. Tanksley also shot seven points in the last 20 minutes and Kone added eight.
The Pride improved their score to produce 44 points in the second half.
Hofstra improved their offensive accuracies from the first half to the second in field goals 11-36 to 18-35 (30.6 percent-51.4 percent) and in threes 2-13 to 3-10 (15.4 percent-30 percent).
Dion Nesmith struggled with shooting on the court making 1-of-7 but he led the Pride offense with six assists on the night.
Moussa Kone had one block in the game and he’s now five shy from reaching the 100 blocked shots mark in his collegiate career.
The Pride hit the road soon with their next matchup against the College of Charleston Cougars at the TD Arena. Game-time is set on Jan. 8 and to start at 7:30 p.m. as Hofstra aims to win five in a row as well as their third consecutive conference matchup.
