Does this sound familiar? The Hofstra men’s basketball team won another game. Monday, Feb. 13, marked their eighth consecutive win, this time 66-52 over the Drexel University Dragons, bringing their overall record to 20-8 and 13-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). With this, the Dragons drop to a 15-12 record and 9-6 in league play.
“Really good job all the way around,” said Hofstra men’s basketball head coach Speedy Claxton. “Overall, [I] thought my guys were really locked into the game plan.”
That proved to be true as the team shot 50% from the field and 33% from beyond the arc. The player who stood out the most was none other than Darlinstone Dubar. It wasn’t only because he was the first to get on the scoreboard but also because he went 7-7 from the field including 2-2 from three.
“[Dubar] is the key to our team, he got off to a great start,” Claxton said. “We’re trying to protect our house and trying to win a championship.”
Dubar confirmed this, stressing the opening minutes where he was the first to score.
“Once the first shot goes in, throughout the rest of the game I just have confidence,” Dubar said. “I just got [to] be consistent, that’s my goal.”
Beyond Dubar’s perfect shooting, the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex saw another night of Aaron Estrada shooting over 20 points – 22 to be specific.
On top of that, this was the fourth consecutive double-digit win for Claxton’s squad.
“We know what’s at stake,” Claxton said. “We’re coming in first place [in the CAA] and we’re trying to protect that.”
Claxton admitted that there’s more to this team than offense. In fact, the Pride is first in the CAA in field goal percentage allowed, namely 41.1%.
“Offense wins games, defense wins championships,” Claxton said. “We’re trying to win championships so we’re [going to] guard.”
When asked about whether Claxton liked the way his team is playing, he had this to say:
“Nah, I don’t really like it… I love it,” Claxton said. “I love the way we’re playing. We’re playing at the championship level.”
Hofstra’s next appearance on the hardwood will be on Thursday, Feb. 16, in the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex against the Hampton University Pirates.Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
This will be the second time the two teams meet this season, the first ending in a 67-51 win over the Pirates in their own court. That game can be listened to on 88.7 FM WRHU and streamed on FloSports, with live stats on gohofstra.com.
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein
