The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team went into Saturday’s game against the Northeastern University Huskies looking to avenge their overtime defeat from two nights earlier, but the Pride fell short yet again on Saturday, Jan. 9, this time by a score of 67-56.
The matinee contest at the Cabot Athletic Center started close as each team traded baskets. Hofstra’s Tareq Coburn scored 5 of the Pride’s first 7 points to start the game.
Jalen Ray’s mid-range jump shot with 14:14 remaining in the first half gave Hofstra a temporary 11-10 lead, while Huskies guard Quirin Emanga gave his team a 13-11 lead with a 3-pointer of his own with 13:24 remaining.
Hofstra’s Kvonn Cramer went 1-2 from the free-throw line cutting the Northeastern lead to one point. Huskies forward Jason Strong and Hofstra’s Caleb Burgess exchanged layups,pushing the score to 15-14 in favor of Northeastern.
Not much longer after, the Huskies took control of the first half.
Strong had two 3-pointers with 7:16 remaining and 4:37 remaining, giving the Huskies a seven-point lead.
Hofstra went almost four minutes without scoring either a field goal or having a free throw attempt.
After an Emanga layup, Jalen Ray broke the tough shooting stretch for Hofstra with a mid-range jump shot cutting the Huskies’ lead back to 7 points with 3:44 remaining.
On Northeastern’s next possession, guard Tyson Walker’s 3-pointer gave the Huskies a 10-point lead with 3:20 remaining.
In the first half, the Pride had a tough time taking care of the ball as they had 10 turnovers heading into halftime. Luckily, they kept their deficit below double-digits with help from a free throw made by Jalen Ray and layups by Isaac Kante and KvonnCramer. The Huskies led 30-21 heading into halftime.
The Pride opened up the second half with a major sense of urgency as they went on a 17-0 run within the first 7 minutes,giving themselves a 38-30 lead with 13:24 remaining.
Walker ended the drought as his 3-pointer cut his team’s deficit to five points with 12:44 remaining.
Coburn’s dunk pushed the Pride’s lead up to seven points with 12:24 remaining.
Walker cut the Pride’s lead to four points with another 3-pointer with 12:00 remaining. Shortly after a Pride turnover, Walker added another 3-pointer cutting the Huskies’ deficit to one point with 11:24 remaining.
After Kante’s layup gave the Pride a 42-39 lead, Emanga tied the game at 42 apiece with a 3-pointer of his own.
Hofstra took a five point lead after a Vukasin Masic 3-pointer and another Isaac Kante layup.
With the Pride leading 47-42, Walker cut Hofstra’s lead to twopoints with his sixth 3-pointer of the day. With 7:22 remaining, he gave his team the lead for good with his seventh 3-pointer of the day.
After Jahmyl Telfort’s layup gave Northeastern a 3-point lead with 6:45 remaining, Hofstra couldn’t cut the Huskies’ lead to 1 as Caleb Burgess went 1-2 from the free-throw line.
Huskies guard Shaquille Walters had two free throws giving them a 4-point lead. Shortly after, Jahmyl Telfort and Walters each had a 3-pointer giving the Huskies a 10-point lead.
Despite a push from Ray and Coburn in the later minutes,Northeastern had the upper hand as time dwindled on the clock.
“Certainly not going to be a 40 minutes where just everything is going right,” said Hofstra acting head coach Mike Farrelly.“When we hit those pockets when things are not going well, we have to be able to rely on our defense and be able to get those stops and hopefully to get out in transition.”
Coburn led the scoring for Hofstra with 15 points while Ray followed up with 14 points and Caleb Burgess with 10 points along with a team-leading five assists. Kante led the team in rebounds with 15.
Ray moved to 34th place all-time in scoring for Hofstra with 1,079 career points, moving past Derrick Flowers.
Northeastern’s Walker led the Huskies with 23 points. He went8-17 from the field with 7 of his makes being 3-pointers. Emanga also added 14 points while Jason Strong added 11 points.
The Pride still leads 26-25 in the all-time series against the Huskies, but the loss moved the Pride to 2-2.
in Colonial Athletic Association play and 6-5 overall for the season.
Hofstra is scheduled to play at the University of Delaware next Saturday, Jan. 16 with a 2 p.m. tip-off.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
