March. It may seem like an ordinary month in the calendar, but in sports, March signals a time when David beating Goliath is not out of the ordinary, and where unthinkable scenarios come about in more ways than one. On Tuesday, March 14, the Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team did what many thought was unthinkable. The Pride shocked the college basketball world by upsetting the No. 1 seed Rutgers University Scarlet Knights on the road in overtime, 88-86, in the first round of the National Invitational Tournament (NIT).
“Great team effort from my guys all the way around,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “Whoever stepped on the court, they gave us a spark. Down the stretch, we relied on Tyler [Thomas] and he was huge for us, and he has been all season long. [Aaron] Estrada didn’t have a typical Estrada night, but DStone [Dubar] was great, 17 big points, and Nelson [Boachie-Yiadom] hit a huge basket to send it into overtime. Just really proud of my guys.”
Despite the victory, things did not look so great for the Pride at the start of the first half. Rutgers began the game on fire, with Cam Spencer knocking down three-pointers from anywhere on the court and with Clifford Omoruyi dominating the paint with easy baskets. After a quick 9-2 start for the Scarlet Knights, Claxton immediately called a timeout in hopes of calming down any potential nerves for his group of guys.
It wasn’t until that timeout where things started to go right for the Pride. Darlinstone Dubar came up big for Hofstra in the first half, going 4-8 from the field and leading the team in points with nine heading into halftime. Jaquan Carlos was also aggressive throughout, with the point guard corralling six rebounds early on.
“We kept our composure,” Claxton said. “We didn’t get off to the start we would’ve liked, but to these kids’ credit, they didn’t give up, they weren’t down on themselves, they kept battling.
It was an uncharacteristic performance for Aaron Estrada throughout. In the first half alone, Estrada shot 2-7 from the field for only four points and committed four turnovers.
Rutgers led for the entire first half, with their biggest lead taking place at the 14:37 mark after a jumper made by Derek Simpson, going ahead 14-4. The Scarlet Knights shot 42.5% from the field as a team, including 35.7% from three-point range. Spencer led the way with 16 points, going 6-10 from the field and knocking down four three-pointers.
Despite trailing, Hofstra shot better than Rutgers from the floor in the first half, with the Pride shooting nearly 52% as a team and 30% from long range. Most of the problems for Hofstra stemmed from allowing 10 offensive rebounds to the Scarlet Knights, as well as committing eight turnovers compared to four for Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights took a 40-35 lead heading into the break.
Unlike the first half, the Pride jumped out of the gates with a quick three-pointer by Tyler Thomas in its first possession of the second half. However, Rutgers pounced on the Pride once again with a 6-0 run in the blink of an eye, leading 46-38 with just over 18 minutes left to play.
Hofstra continued to play tight with Rutgers all the way through, regardless of any perceived momentum the Scarlet Knights may have had.
“We have that next play mentality,” said Tyler Thomas. “We try to rely on our defense. Rebounding is our weak link, so we try to home in on that when you get down six or eight, make a little run and basketball is a game of runs, and we understand that.”
A three pointer off the fastbreak by German Plotnikov cut the deficit to just one point, 50-49 with 15:36 remaining on the clock.
The Pride continued to excel on the fastbreak, with their disruptiveness on the defensive end causing Rutgers to dish into crowded passing lanes. Hofstra’s fastbreak opportunity at the 12:28 mark gave the Pride its first lead of the game, 54-53, following another three-pointer, this time by Estrada. Another fastbreak chance led the way for Thomas to drill a shot from mid-range, extending their lead to three, 56-53.
One of the more noteworthy moments of the game happened with 6:51. A controversial blocking call gave Estrada his fifth personal foul, thus forcing him to exit the game with just 13 points on the night. At this moment, the Hofstra faithful truly wondered if this was the last time Estrada would be seen walking off the court in a Hofstra jersey.
Rutgers eventually regained the lead with 9:21 left to go, off the back of another three-pointer by Spencer. The Scarlet Knights hovered around a six-point lead for the next few minutes of the game, up until the three-minute mark, where Thomas continued to be effective with a basket in the paint to cut the lead to three, 70-67.
After another basket by Thomas, the Pride trailed by one, 70-69. However, Rutgers scored two easy shots in the paint to go ahead 74-69 with just 30 seconds on the clock. Thomas continued to stay clutch with a tough three pointer at the 24 second mark. Down two, Nelson Boachie-Yiadom rebounded a miss from beyond the arc by Carlos. Boachie-Yiadom quickly threw up the shot, and the ball rolled dramatically through the net to tie the game at 74.
“Coach [Mike] DePaoli been telling me to rebound the whole year,” said Boachie-Yiadom. “You know we’ve got some great shot creators; I’ve got shooters around me, so I know that they’re gonna take a lot of shots, and if it misses, I have to be there for a rebound to get some extra points. It’s not just the last play, I got a couple before that, so you know same possession got the last play, it’s just incredible.”
Rutgers was unable to put up a shot with two seconds remaining, thus sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, the Pride missed just two shots. Every miraculous shot seemed to go in for Hofstra. Whether it was the acrobatic tip-in from Boachie-Yiadom or the banked in three pointer by Dubar, there was clearly something in the air in Piscataway, New Jersey.
After another score by Thomas, the Pride led 88-86 with 10 seconds to go. With a chance to tie or take the lead, Rutgers’ Derek Simpson attempted a floater in the middle of the paint, but was slightly off, as the ball was tipped around for the rebound but ultimately collapsed to the floor as time expired. Whist the crowd was silent in disbelief, what could be heard was the roar of the Pride’s section in the arena, as Hofstra showed that despite being the underdog, they still had a lot to prove to everyone.
“It means a lot,” said Claxton. “Both teams, we both wanted to be in the big tournament, but that didn’t happen and when you go to the NIT, it’s a great tournament and the first game is always tough because you’re still thinking about that big one, but once you get the first one under your belt, you try to make a run.”
Thomas led all scorers with 25 points for Hofstra and shot an
efficient 11-18 from the field, including three three-pointers out of ten attempts. Jaquan Carlos played all 45 minutes of the game, scoring 12 points and putting up six rebounds along with five assists. Two other players reached double figures for the Pride, with Dubar scoring 17 and Boachie-Yiadom putting up 10.
Spencer led Rutgers in points with 22, rebounds with eight, and tied for the assist lead with five. Simpson scored 19 points and added four assists. Omoruyi scored 14 points and put up five rebounds. Caleb McConnell also scored in double figures with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.
The victory was Hofstra’s first NIT win since 2006, and the Pride will look to add to that total in the second round against either the University of Cincinnati or Virginia Tech. The game will be played on either Saturday, March 18, or Sunday, March 19.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Cos Lymperopoulos
