After cruising to a round one 77-55 win over the No. 14 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championships, the Hofstra University men’s basketball team has a second-round date with No. 6 Monmouth University.
On Feb. 20, the Pride led against Monmouth until the last 22 seconds of the game, when Andrew Ball knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Hawks a 64-61 lead. The Hawks had four free throws to make the final 68-62.
Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton talked about the key to success for their CAA Championship bout against the Hawks after their win over N.C. A&T.
“I feel like they stole one from us last time out,” Claxton said. “We just got to play a full 40 minutes … We just got to go out there and hopefully put together a full 40-minute game.”
Hofstra will have their hands full with Abdi Bashir Jr. who is the No. 16 leading scorer in the nation, averaging 20.3 points per game. When he gets hot, he shoots numerous threes at an efficient 39.3% clip and can take over this game.
The last time these two teams played, German Plotnikov led Hofstra in scoring with 20 points. Silas Sunday was second on the team in scoring with 11, as the Pride’s double-headed monster at guard in Cruz Davis and Jean Aranguren were held to just 13 points combined. If Hofstra wants a chance, they’ll need better performances from one of them, if not both.
Bashir Jr. struggled against the Pride a couple of weeks ago, finishing with just nine points. Madison Durr and Jack Collins provided the damage, combining for 33 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
The Pride are back in action on Saturday, March 8, against the Hawks. Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m., for the second round in Washington, D.C.
