Newark, DE – Junior forward Ty Greer tied a career-high 17 points and sophomore guard Justin Wright-Foreman added 15 points as the Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team grinded out their conference opener over the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, 58-56 on Dec. 31.
“It’s a league road win,” said head coach Joe Mihalich. “It’s only one game, but at the end of the day, five teams are going to be in first place and we’re one of them.”
Hofstra overcame a slow and challenging practice the day before, according to the coach, to complete a hard fought battle against their conference foe.
The Pride clinched their third consecutive win and seventh in nine contests after being handled easily by the Kentucky Wildcats on the national stage.
“We have to learn from that win, always have to learn” said Mihalich.
The Pride came out of the gate on its heels. After Delaware jumped out to an early 8-4 lead, Hofstra went on a 10-4 run past the midway point of the first half. They relied on the three-ball to make that run possible and collectively shot 33 percent in the first half.
Three-pointers from Greer, Wright-Foreman and Eli Pemberton (11 points, three assists) helped stake the Pride out to a four-point lead, 30-26, at the break.
Jamall Robinson also added some insurance in the opening frame with a three-ball of his own – his lone of the evening.
This was all done without one of their top three-point shooters, Brian Bernardi, who did not play.
“In the locker room before the game, we said ‘listen’, everybody needs to do a little bit more,” said Mihalich. “Ty really answered the bell and we’ll be happy to get (Bernardi) back on the floor.”
Trailing the tilt, the Fightin’ Blue Hens fought back and took advantage of Pride miscues to take the early lead in the second half, 33-30.
Ryan Daly and Anthony Mosley teamed up for 20 and 13 points, respectively, to keep Delaware in the game.
It didn’t take long for the Pride to answer back. As the second half continued, Hofstra regained the lead and pushed it to double digits, 45-33, thanks to a 15-0 run.
Wright-Foreman had eight of his 15 points during that stretch.
Hofstra struggled against Delaware’s zone coverage, which led to six turnovers. The Blue Hens capitalized with 10 points off those turnovers to stay alive.
During those struggles, the Pride was held off the scoreboard for six full minutes before Deron Powers could end the drought with under three minutes remaining in the game.
In the end, the Pride adjusted without Bernardi and received a complete team effort.
In the final minute of action, Delaware tied the score at 56 when Daly drilled a three-pointer to get their crowd alive.
On the ensuing possession – however – Wright-Foreman showed moxie by drawing contact on an attempted three-pointer from well beyond the arc. He hit the following two free throws with 36 seconds on the clock to give the Pride a lead they would not let up.
Despite the grind, the Pride left Newark with its first conference win of the season.
“We showed a lot of winning team qualities,” said Mihalich. “At the end of the day, we did all those things that winning teams do. We showed a lot of (resiliency).”
Hofstra plays home on Jan. 2 at 4 p.m. against William & Mary for their second conference game of the season.
