Hofstra men’s basketball defeated Rosemont College 107-54 on Saturday, Dec. 22, at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex to close out their non-conference schedule.
The Pride was dominant on both ends of the floor and used a balanced attack to cruise to their 10th win this season and their 10th straight win at home. This is Hofstra’s second double-digit home win streak since joining the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2001.
“It’s a feel-good win,” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich. “I feel good, I think everyone feels good. I’m proud of these guys for playing the right way. You know, Justin [Wright-Foreman] could have scored 30 points in 20 minutes against these guys … He could’ve had 30 against these guys in the first half, but he didn’t because he was playing the right way.”
The Rosemont Ravens scored the first four points of the game before Hofstra went on a 22-4 run. Just moments later, the Pride started another scoring run – this one 17-0 – that extended the lead to 43-12.
Hofstra dominated the Ravens on the glass, cleaning up all the rebounds. The Pride outrebounded Rosemont 57-22. Hofstra also won the battle from behind the arc, shooting 33 percent as a team from three, while Rosemont had only 13 percent from downtown.
“I thought we spaced the floor pretty well,” Mihalich said. “We say all the time, move people and move the ball, and I thought we did that. We made the extra pass when we had to do that. I think all those things went in our favor.”
Kenny Wormley led the Pride in scoring, dropping 20 points in a career-high outing. Jacquil Taylor, Connor Klementowicz and Kevin Schutte also had career highs in points, scoring 18, nine and six respectively.
“It was great [to use the whole bench] because all of those guys work so hard,” Mihalich said. “You know [Klementowicz], he works so hard and he deserves to be in the limelight. I’m glad for [him] and [Schutte] and Matija [Radovic] and [Wormley], [they] had a good game
Desure Buie had his first career double-double, scoring 13 points and tying a career-high 10 assists. Stafford Trueheart also had a career high in rebounds, grabbing 13 boards.
Hofstra had a school record 26 assists against Rosemont. The previous record was 25 assists which was achieved twice, once during the 1988-89 season against Bucknell University and again against University of North Carolina-Wilmington during the 2011-12 season.
Basil Thompson was the only Raven to cross double digits in scoring. Thompson finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
Hofstra will now prepare for conference play beginning with a home test against University of Delaware on Friday, Dec. 28. The 8-5 Fightin’ Blue Hens will be a strong test for Hofstra to begin what should be a heated race for the CAA Conference Championship.
“We feel good about ourselves right now, but now it is time to kick it to another gear,” Mihalich said. “It is time to go to another level because our conference is the best conference no one has ever heard of.”
Image Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
