The Hofstra men’s basketball welcomed the University of Delaware to Hempstead on Friday, Dec. 28, defeating the Blue Hens 91-46 at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex to begin their Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) schedule.
The Pride (11-3, 1-0) extended their win streak to eight games thanks to stellar shooting from Justin Wright-Foreman who scored 29 points on 10-14 shooting and Eli Pemberton who scored 17 points on 5-9 shooting.
“We were playing for first place and we took care of business” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich. “I’m proud of these guys … They were all focused, locked in, hungry and wanting to show were a good team.”
The Pride and the Blue Hens initially exchanged baskets after tip-off. Then, Delaware forward Eric Carter fouled twice in two minutes allowing the Pride to go on an 18-7 run to make the score 20-10 with 10 minutes to go in the first half. That run, along with another 14-3 run later on, would give Hofstra a 48-18 lead to end the half.
“It starts off the court,” Pemberton said. “Our chemistry is really good … It makes it kind of easy to play defense for each other … I feel like this is the closest team I have.”
The second half was the same story as the first. Hofstra was able to lock down Delaware defensively and also continued to shoot the ball with ease. Wright-Foreman scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half and was also 3-3 from beyond the arc.
The Blue Hens went through multiple stretches during the second half where the team was unable to record a basket. These cold stretches allowed Hofstra to keep expanding its lead which reached a game-high 48 points in the second half and helped seal the 91-46 victory.
The Pride dominated the Blue Hens offensively, shooting 60.9 percent from the three-point line compared to Delaware’s 20.8 percent and also outrebounded them 41-30 throughout the game. Jacquil Taylor led the game in rebounds with 12 boards.
“[Taylor] does the things that don’t show up … we were making good basketball plays,” Mihalich said.
Hofstra was able to shut down Delaware’s leading scorer, Carter, by only letting him score seven points and keeping Delaware’s field goal percentage under 30 percent.
The Pride had three players reach double-digit point totals.
No players for the Blue Hens were able to reach double-digit scoring. Matt Veretto scored the most points for the Blue Hens with nine points on 4-10 shooting.
“Just stay hungry, be hungry,” Mihalich said. “When you’re playing good you can’t wait to play again.”
Hofstra will take Saturday off but return to action on this Sunday, Dec. 30, against Drexel University at home, with tip-off scheduled for 4 p.m.
Image Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
