Isaac Kante dropped 21 points to power the Hofstra men’s basketball to their fifth-straight victory Sunday, Jan. 31, over the UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks 89-83 at the Trask Coliseum.
After the contest opened with a 5-5 score, Hofstra used a 10-0 run sparked by Caleb Burgess, Jalen Ray and Kante to jump out in front 15-5. After Omar Silverio’s jumper gave the Pride a 32-17 advantage with under 10 minutes remaining in the half, UNCW embarked on 24-8 run over the next seven minutes giving the Seahawks a 41-40 lead.
The Seahawks, however, went cold from the field in the remaining three minutes of the half as the Pride used a 9-0 run kickstarted by back-to-back layups by Kvonn Cramer to take a 49-40 lead at the half.
Jake Boggs opened the door for UNCW to start the second half with five of his 21 points coming during a 13-4 Seahawk run in the opening minutes to tie the game at 53. A quick 8-2 Pride run capped by a Caleb Burgess three-pointer pushed Hofstra out front 61-55.
After exchanging baskets, UNCW took the lead for the first time in the second half after a Mike Okauru free throw with five minutes remaining in the game. Quick Kante and Ray baskets put the game back in Hofstra’s favor.
Joe Pridgen got the Seahawks back within one at 84-83 with two minutes remaining, but just as the first half, UNCW went cold and Hofstra closed out on a 5-0 run securing the win.
“Not our finest defensive effort by any means. Credit to UNC-Wilmington, they were attacking and Okauru was terrific and they made a couple of key shots too,” said Hofstra acting head coach Mike Farrelly. “I thought we got our defense together a couple of times and they made keep shots to keep them in it.”
Ray recorded 18 points in the game while Cramer added 17 points and eight offensive rebounds and 11 total rebounds.
“Kvonn was a monster. Eight offensive rebounds in a game is just absurd,” Farrelly said. “Just the way he goes after the ball and you hear the coach yelling at their guys ‘box him out’ [and] ‘you got to find him’ and he still is managing to get the ball.”
Burgess and Silverio rounded out the five Pride players in double-digits with 15 and 10 points.
Okauru led all scorers in the game with 30 for UNCW while also adding nine rebounds and six assists.
The Pride recorded 50 of its 89 points from the paint while shooting 52.5% from the field during the game.
“A lot of good drives today. Caleb Burgess early I thought drove the ball hard and got some good finishes there,” Farrelly said. “Obviously, Isaac is just a monster and had some good opportunities to score down there and had advantageous matchups as well and took advantage of that.”
With the win, Hofstra soars to an 11-6 record and sits one game back in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings at 7-3. UNCW falls to 7-8 overall dropping their third-straight contest while falling to 1-5 in the CAA.
The Pride will look for their sixth straight win when they take on Drexel University on Saturday, Feb. 6, at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
