Short-term memory is often necessary for conference championship teams in the modern era of college basketball, and the Hofstra University men’s basketball team displayed just that to snap their three-game losing streak with a 76-71 win over the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens on Saturday, Jan. 7, at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. The Pride improved to 8-7 and evened their Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) record to 1-1 coming off a 73-61 home loss to the College of Charleston on Thursday, Jan. 4.
“Great bounce-back win for us after a tough loss,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “Proud of my guys; proud of the way we played.”
After digging a quick 16-4 hole against Charleston on Thursday night, Claxton was quick to call out his team’s ability to start games on the right foot, and the Pride responded in a big way against Delaware. Hofstra opened the contest on a 10-3 run and led the Blue Hens 44-32 at halftime, courtesy of a 49% mark from the field.
“Proud of the way we started the game,” Claxton said. “The last couple of games we’ve gotten off to poor starts, so we wanted to make that a point of emphasis.”
After taking a 12-point deficit into the locker room, the Blue Hens rallied to whittle the Hofstra lead down as low as four points with 5:42 remaining in the game. With the Pride unable to buy a bucket from the outside, Jacco Fritz took control of the glass and cleaned up several Hofstra misses for second-chance points to stall the comeback and put the game on ice. The graduate transfer finished with a Hofstra career-high of 15 points and nine rebounds in the win, while adding a crucial alley-oop assist to Darlinstone Dubar down the stretch.
“I feel like I’m growing as a leader here,” Fritz said. “I’ve been here for a couple of months now, so it’s getting to be my time to step up.”
While Fritz led the way offensively, Dubar showed his mettle on the defensive end by holding Delaware leading scorer Jyáre Davis to his second-lowest scoring total of the year with 11 points on 4-12 shooting. Davis also committed a season-high five turnovers under the pressure of Dubar, which led to 11 points for Hofstra on the other end. Dubar also tallied the 1,000th point of his Hofstra career in the win, becoming the 41st member of the Pride to reach the milestone.
“I think it started with [Dubar]. He did a tremendous job in a very tough matchup,” Claxton said. “He took it upon himself and said he was gonna shut Davis down, and he did it.”
After managing just nine assists in a stagnant effort on Thursday, the Hofstra offense found its footing with 19 assists on 29 made field goals. Despite a quiet day in the scoring department, Jaquan Carlos played the role of maestro once again with 10 assists and four turnovers. The junior’s bounce-back performance increased his nightly average to 6.6 assists, vaulting him back into the nation’s top 10.
“He’s our leader, he’s the guy who makes us go,” Claxton said. “He gets everyone shots, he’s our most important piece.”
The Pride will continue their CAA schedule on Thursday, Jan. 11, with a trip to Boston, Massachusetts, to face the Northeastern University Huskies, who are still looking for their first conference victory after falling to Stony Brook University on Thursday, Jan 4.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Alexis Friedman
