After staring down a disastrous defeat that would have put their season on life support, the Hofstra University men’s basketball team managed to snatch victory against the Hampton University Pirates 86-77 on Thursday, Jan. 18, at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. The victory was one of a kind for the Pride, as they came back from an 18-point second-half deficit and halted a two-game losing streak, bringing their Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) record to 2-3.
“We had to come back yet again, but I’m proud of this team,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “They could have easily quit when we got down, but we fought back and got control of the game.”
Slow starts have been a constant fixture in each of Hofstra’s three conference losses, and Thursday was no different. The Pride sputtered out to a 42-27 halftime score against the last-place Pirates, even with star senior Tyler Thomas managing just two points. The Hofstra bench kept the Pride within striking distance, despite the starters’ offensive woes, as KiJan Robinson added eight points and a pair of 3-pointers to close the gap before halftime.
“[Robinson] was really big for us in the first half, he had eight big points off the bench,” Claxton said. “We were struggling to score, and he gave us a boost.”
Hofstra opened the second half like a different team following the disastrous opening stanza. They tied the game at 44 after embarking on a scorching hot 17-0 scoring run. The Pride matched their highest-scoring half of the season with a 59-point outburst that saw them shoot 49% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range.
“It wasn’t anything tactical, it was just a shift in energy and effort,” Claxton said. “We ran the same plays and went to our go-to guys … all around, it was a team effort.”
With the Pride looking for a spark after the consecutive conference losses, the Hofstra coaching staff made just the second change to the starting lineup all season by adding German Plotnikov in place of Bryce Washington. The junior brought unmatched tenacity and versatility to the rotation in his first career start, racking up 10 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists.
“To be honest, it doesn’t matter whether I start, play 30 minutes, or play 5 minutes,” Plotnikov said. “I just gotta come out and play hard regardless of how much playing time I get.”
As for Washington, the fifth-year senior took his move to the bench in stride, knocking down a trio of 3-pointers in the second half to finish with 11 points, his highest scoring total in over a month.
“I thought we had some really great bench play out of Bryce,” Claxton said. “We took him out of the lineup, and he didn’t hang his head. He came here and made big plays tonight.”
With Thomas once again struggling to find his groove, Darlinstone Dubar played the hero for the Pride, exploding with 27 points and 10 rebounds on just 12 field goal attempts. The performance marked the sixth double-double of Dubar’s breakout junior season, following his scoring in double figures for the 19th consecutive game.
“[Dubar] was a man amongst boys tonight,” Claxton said. “He carried us offensively. There was a stretch where he was basically the entire offense.”
Hofstra now sits 3.5 games out of first place and will continue to fight an uphill battle to stay within CAA title competition. That battle will continue on Monday, Jan. 22, when the Pride travel across Long Island to renew their rivalry with the Stony Brook University Seawolves. The Seawolves hold an identical 2-3 record in conference play and are 1-7 in their last eight meetings with Hofstra.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9 p.m. at the Island Federal Arena in Stony Brook, New York.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Matteo Bracco
