The Hofstra University men’s basketball team faced off against Seton Hall University on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in the Icons Of The Game event at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Pride beat the Pirates 49-48 to extend their win streak to three games and begin the 2024-2025 campaign.
Former Seton Hall guard Jaquan Sanders was the Icons Of The Game Player of the Game, as he poured in 12 points and knocked down the game-winning three-pointer in transition with just under two minutes left to go.
“Shoutout to my teammate Jean [Aranguren]. He had the ball and he’s been telling me all day in practice and games that we need you; we need you to shoot, stay confident,” Sanders said. “My shots weren’t falling in the first half, so we had a conversation coming into the second half. We told each other that we needed one another … Shout out to my teammate [Aranguren] for seeing me down the court. I’m happy I hit that shot, and we got a stop after that. It was a big shot and a big win.”
Hofstra has won games in almost every way possible this season; high scoring, low scoring, offensively, defensively, inefficient nights, efficient nights. For a new group, this could be a sign of good things to come.
“I’m still learning about this team, but there’s no quit whether we’re up, down, or tied,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “This team is going to fight until the very last end, and that’s the sign of a championship team … I’m happy with where we’re at right now.”
The last time the Pride played against Seton Hall was in 1970 and the Pirates got the upper hand. Hofstra hasn’t beaten a Big East Conference school in almost 19 years.
“It’s big time for the program, big time win,” Claxton said. “Whenever you get a Big East opponent on a neutral-site court, you want to put your best foot forward. I’m happy with the way my guys played because it wasn’t a pretty game, we won an ugly game. Sometimes you need those types of games to go forward and to win a championship.”
It was a hard-fought game from start to finish. Both teams struggled with getting open looks, but when they did, they made their opponent pay. Both teams shot under 40% throughout the contest, but the Pride’s ability to come up clutch in the final seconds and make important shots at the charity stripe prevailed them over the Pirates.
“They fought down to that last buzzer, and I thought that the toughest team won tonight,” Claxton said. “That’s what we wanted to be going into the game. We knew that it was going to be playing against a Big East opponent, I knew [Shaheen Halloway, Seton Hall’s head coach] was going to have them ready.”
Hofstra went into the half trailing Seton Hall 24-22 and was forced to make adjustments at halftime.
“I feel like having a good tempo on the defensive side [was an adjustment],” Sanders said. “In the first half, we were giving them too many easy baskets and we weren’t really playing our type of defense of just being a physical team. Our starting five came together and we said, “We’re in this game even though we’re playing bad, but we’re down two at halftime. Just make a big push and stay physical. That was our main agenda in the second half; playing physical and playing Hofstra basketball.”
The Pride went back into action on Saturday, Nov. 16, against the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Tip-off was set for 7 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Amelia Bashy
