Back home for the first time since Nov. 14, the Hofstra men’s basketball team sent the SUNY Old Westbury Panthers home with their tails between their legs with a 96-48 win on Thursday, Dec. 22.

“Great team win,” said Hofstra head men’s basketball coach Speedy Claxton. “[This game] was about us building good habits going forward.”

Darlinstone Dubar led the Pride’s offense with 23 points, followed by Tyler Thomas leading the shots from beyond the arc with four on the day.

Quick to start the game was Old Westbury’s Anthony Payamps with a layup in the first minute. Consecutive 3-pointers from Thomas, Amar’e Marshall and Dubar gave the audience a 12-4 game in the blink of an eye. Old Westbury’s took a page out of the Pride’s book and scored from beyond the arc to cut that deficit to 12-7, but it was soon forgotten by Dubar’s dunk and Thomas’s third 3-pointer for a 19-7 lead.

With 15 minutes left in the first half, Hofstra showed no signs of letting up. Nelson Boachie-Yiadom put his name on the scoresheet with a shot from the Panther’s paint to stretch the lead to 21-7. After a lost possession by Old Westbury, Jaquan Carlos’ failed 3-point attempt gave Dubar the opening he needed for a second-chance shot right under the rim.

Payamps, proving that he doesn’t give up without a fight, found the back of the basket with a layup, bringing the score up to 23-9. After two successful shot at the charity stripe by Old Westbury’s Zachary Cummings, the Pride went on a 13-7 run, capped off by Carlos’ rim-rolling 3-pointer.

The following 70 seconds went scoreless until Cummings landed a 3-pointer, but Hofstra didn’t let him celebrate that for long with junior German Plotnikov’s shot from the field followed by Griffin Barrouk’s 3-point jumper for a comfortable 41-19 lead.

In the remaining seven minutes of the first half, two layups from Hofstra’s Bryce Washington, a layup and a dunk from Warren Williams, and a combined three 3-pointers from Carlos and Plotnikov put the Pride up an additional 14 points before going into the halftime break.

The only damage that the Panthers could mount was sandwiched in between, with a field shot from Joshua Ourigou, a 3-pointer and a free throw shot from Cummings. That wasn’t enough as Hofstra went into the half leading 59-25.

Panthers starter Chris Smith had the first say with a hook shot jumper from the paint with the hopes of closing the scoring gap. Immediately after, Boachie-Yiadom drew a foul, marking a 7-0 run by the Pride courtesy of Dubar and Thomas. Smith pressed pause for a second with a jumper in the field, but Dubar pressed play on Hofstra’s momentum once again with a second-change 3-point shot.

Just over a minute and a half passed of a scoreless, back-and-forth affair until Marshall stole the ball from Old Westbury, pushed through in the foot race to the basket and landed a thunderous dunk for the Pride.

That’s not to say that Old Westbury was throwing in the towel anytime soon; Carl Damour clocked in a field shot on a second-chance jump shot.

Following a free throw by Hofstra’s Carlos and Old Westbury’s Jonathan Jamieson field shot, the court saw the catfight continue. Panther sophomore Max Weinberg and Hofstra’s Dubar traded layups to put the score to 75-35.

Dubar went for another one just a minute later, followed by another 3-pointer to bring Hofstra up to 80 points. Jamieson and Weinberg stayed in the paint, pouring in two more points apiece, only to be nullified by Marshall’s beyond the arc shot and another Dubar layup.

With just under eight minutes to go, Hofstra showed no signs of pumping the breaks. Marshall put up another 3-pointer, marking 90-36 on the scoreboard. Bryce Washington doubled down on the offensive effort, weaving through three guards in the paint to land a layup.

Although the Panthers got the last say of the day, Hofstra’s Aiden Best pushed the offense to its limit with an assist from Petey Galgano, both in their first appearances for the Pride.

The team returns to action and starts conference play on the road at Newark, Delaware, against the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens on Thursday, Dec. 29. Tip-off is at 7.
Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman/Hofstra Chronicle