The Hofstra men’s basketball team pulled away in the second half on Saturday, Feb. 12, cruising to an 80–66 victory on the road over the University of Delaware Blue Hens. The victory was Hofstra’s fourth straight and improved their record to 17–9 and 9–4 in conference play.
“Great team effort, we had five guys scoring in double figures,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “I think we had one of our best games on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively, seem to be clicking these guys and we said we wanted a statement win and we got it tonight.”
The Pride started off hot out of the gate with a 9–3 lead. A three–pointer from Aaron Estrada pushed the lead up to nine, 16–7, with 14:08 left to go in the first half. The Pride never looked back in the first half, taking their first double–digit lead over the Blue Hens, 27–17, with 7:04 remaining on the clock.
Delaware cut the early deficit, ending the half with six straight points, trailing 39–35 entering halftime. Hofstra shot 42.1% from the field in the first half, while Delaware shot 40% from the field.
Hofstra once again came out hot to start the second half with a 11–4 run, making it a 52–41 lead with 16:49 left to play. Jalen Ray helped lead the charge for Hofstra with another big three–pointer that extended the Pride’s lead up to 16, its largest of the game, and made the score 65–49 with just over 10 minutes to go.
Delaware looked to stage a big comeback, cutting the lead down to seven points with 8:15 remaining. The Pride answered back quickly and went on a quick 7–0 run to put Delaware away and collect another strong road victory.
“It’s huge, it’s tough to win road games but we’re road warriors, and I’m so happy for my team,” Claxton said. “It seems like we never play at home so we have to win on the road.”
Jyare Davis led the way for Delaware with 16 points off the bench. Ryan Allen also added 12 points for the Blue Hens.
It was a balanced attack for the Pride, with Aaron Estrada once again leading the way for Hofstra, scoring 21 points with a game–high seven rebounds. Ray added 14 points, while Darlinstone Dubar put up 15 points, shooting an efficient 7–8 from the field.
“Estrada’s going to garner a lot of attention, so we’re going to need guys to make shots and with those guys making shots, it’s going to be hard to control.” Claxton added.
Jarrod Simmons and Omar Silverio also came up big for the Pride, with 11 and 10 respectively, as the two combined for 21 of Hofstra’s 23 bench points. Hofstra also came up big in the paint, scoring 46 points from underneath the basket in the game.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
