The Hofstra University men’s basketball team continued their dominant month of February by silencing a sold-out crowd with a demonstrative 69-58 road victory over the UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks on Thursday, Feb. 29. The Pride won their fourth straight game to improve to 8-1 in what the players have dubbed “Speedy Month” this season and 12-5 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play.
“That’s a great road kill,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “Extremely proud of the team; they were tremendous on both sides of the basketball. Defensively, guys locked up, and offensively, we took advantage of some matchups.”
Hofstra’s dominant performance was once again punctuated by a stout defensive effort, as the Pride surrendered under 65 points for the fourth consecutive game. The Seahawks, who ranked atop the CAA with 80.7 points per game entering the contest, were held to a 30% mark from 3-point range and their lowest scoring total in conference play.
“We got a great kind of defensive effort,” Claxton said. “They always say offense wins games and defense wins championships, and we’ve been a really good defensive team these last couple games.”
After heading into halftime with a 32-25 lead, the Pride quickly saw their advantage evaporate due to a 13-2 UNCW run early in the second frame. With the crowd energized and the Seahawks surging, it briefly appeared as if Hofstra was headed for an encore of their comeback defeat to Drexel University just two weeks ago, until the Pride rattled off a 13-1 run of their own to push the lead to 61-48 with five minutes to play.
“They erased that lead quick, and this is a really team on their home court, so I’m super proud of the way we handled the run,” Claxton said. “The guys didn’t fold, they didn’t bend one bit, and we pushed the lead back up.”
While the usually efficient Tyler Thomas hit a lull with 13 points on 4-13 shooting, the Pride found a way to pick up their star’s slack, as Darlinstone “Dstone” Dubar and Jaquan Carlos combined for 46 points and 14 rebounds to power Hofstra to victory. Carlos added five assists and quite a few clutch shots to his stat line, while Dubar, a North Carolina native, led all scorers with 28 points in the win.
“He is playing like a first team all-league player, and I hope the coaches make the right decision when voting,” Claxton said. “He was tremendous for us tonight with 28 and 8. Whenever we come to North Carolina, he has a big game.”
UNCW boasted a strong 9-1 record at home entering Thursday’s game and were promptly handed their worst home loss since 2020 by the Pride. Despite Trask Coliseum’s reputation of being the league’s toughest venue to win at, Claxton and company relished their opportunity to quiet the packed crowd of 5,200.
“We can play anywhere, no matter [the] environment,” Claxton said. “I truly believe the better environment we play in, the more these kids are ready to play.”
With the win, Hofstra has seized sole possession of second place and clinched a double-bye in next week’s CAA tournament. The Pride now has the opportunity to clinch the second seed on Saturday, March 2, against the regular season champion College of Charleston Cougars.
“We didn’t come down here to get one; we’re trying to get two,” Claxton said.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/UNCW Athletics
