HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The San Jose State University men’s basketball program won four games last year.
This season, they already picked up their first win at the hands of the Hofstra Pride.
The Hofstra men’s basketball team dropped their first contest of the season 79-71 on Wednesday, Nov. 6, falling to 0-1 in a season filled with questions on how to replace an NBA talent in Justin Wright-Foreman.
“We got what we deserved,” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich. “We didn’t deserve to win. We weren’t tough enough. We need to take a look in the mirror and figure out what we need to do to be a lot like the team we had last year.”
But, Mihalich said, thinking about last year’s group could have been part of the team’s downfall in this opening game.
“These guys need to remember that it’s not last year anymore,” he said. “[Wright-Foreman is] not here anymore. He’s not coming back.”
Senior Eli Pemberton, who scored 23 points and grabbed four rebounds while playing all 40 minutes, echoed Mihalich’s sentiment.
“27 points [per game] leaving … of course a lot of things need to change,” Pemberton said. “But there are no excuses. We have too many good scorers to not cover that. Tonight, it didn’t happen.”
The Pride, 18-point favorites heading into the night, faltered under the net, grabbing only 33 rebounds compared to the San Jose State Spartans’ 47.
“It’s the little things,” Pemberton said. “The little things we lost today.”
Hofstra took 29 three-pointers throughout the night, but only converted on eight of those shots.
“We shoot the ball. It’s what we do,” Mihalich said. “We didn’t shoot it well tonight, but … I thought we got good looks. We just need to make them.”
The teams went back and forth all night, as neither team held more than at eight-point lead at any point. There were 21 lead changes throughout the duration of the game.
Transfer junior Isaac Kante found a spot in the starting lineup for the first time in a Pride uniform and contributed with eight points and 11 rebounds. The 6-foot-7 guard was 3-9 from the field and 2-3 from the charity stripe in 33 minutes played.
Other new faces to see the court for Hofstra were freshmen Caleb Burgess and Jermaine Miranda, as well as transfer sophomore Omar Silverio. None scored or saw more than six minutes of action.
With eight minutes remaining in the game, Hofstra held an eight-point lead.
With 3:32 remaining, Hofstra’s lead had dwindled to two.
Then, Richard Washington, who led the Spartans with 23 points, took control, scoring 10 straight points to give San Jose State a 77-69 lead with 15 seconds on the clock.
Brae Ivey hit two free throws with less than five seconds left to seal the game for San Jose State.
The Spartans shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and 47 percent throughout the night, while Hofstra shot 43 percent throughout the game.
The Pride dropped their first game of the year for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
“It’s a long season. It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Mihalich said. “This’ll either be the best thing to happen to us all year or we’ll learn that we need to change our ways.”
Mihalich made it clear that something will have to change before the team’s next game this Saturday, Nov. 9, against Monmouth University at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
“I don’t know that it’s x’s and o’s,” he said. “It’s about being tough. It’s about having fight. It’s about hating to lose. It’s attitude and effort. And you can control those things. It a matter of deciding who we want to be.”
Tipoff against Monmouth is set for 4 p.m.
Image courtesy of Adam Flash
