The Hofstra men’s basketball team’s six-game winning streak came to an end on Thursday, Feb. 24, after losing to the Phoenix of Elon University 81-55. This comes just over a week after Omar Silverio led the Pride to a 97-64 win over Elon in North Carolina.
“It’s a disappointment because we had been playing very well,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “Maybe not the last game against Northeastern [University], but before that, we were playing extremely well. We were playing some good basketball. That’s why this loss hurts. Not because they beat us by a lot, but because we lost. And it sucks that it was at home, because we’ve been playing very well at home.”
With this loss, Hofstra is now 19-10 overall for the season, with a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record of 11-5. Elon now is 9-21 overall with a CAA record of 6-11. The Pride now slip down to 11-5 all-time in the all-time series.
“We got exactly what we deserved,” Claxton said. “We didn’t come out to play the right way. We didn’t respect [Elon]. That was the last thing I said to these kids walking out of the locker room. Every time you step out on the court, no matter who you face, you’ve got to respect your opponents, or else you’re going to lose.”
Silverio and Darlinstone Dubar led the Pride with 10 points each. Aaron Estrada had nine points and six rebounds.
Elon was led by Darius Burford, who scored 21 points. The Phoenix also had double-digit performances from Hunter McIntosh with 18, Andrew Junkin with 16 and Michael Graham with 12. Junkin also achieved a double-double, getting 10 rebounds in the process.
Scoring came at a premium for the first three minutes of the game, as both teams started off only scoring one field goal each. Then, Elon scored five points to open up a 7-2 lead. After the Pride took a brief lead off a Caleb Burgess bucket, the Phoenix went unanswered for seven points, and never gave the lead up again. Hofstra opened the second half down 43-31, not scoring a single bucket in the first eight minutes until a Jarrod Simmons three. Elon pushed the lead to 27 points at the 10:13 mark, their highest lead of the night. Hofstra was not able to get within 22 points from then on.
For a team that relies on three-point shots, Hofstra hit only six three-pointers out of 27 attempts, the lowest since their game against UNC-Wilmington on Jan. 29, when they hit only three.
“You’re going to have nights like that,” Claxton said. “It’s not our first night where we missed a bunch of threes. And when you have nights like that, you need to rely on your defense, and our defense was not good at all today.”
The Pride are looking to bounce back when they return to action on Saturday, Feb. 26. They will host the Tribe of the College of William & Mary at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
Photo courtesy of Adam Flash/The Hofstra Chronicle
