There were two teams squaring off at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Monday night, where the Hofstra men’s basketball team battled George Washington University (GW). However, the real fight was between the Pride’s Aaron Estrada whose 33 points was just enough to outslug 44 from GW’s James Bishop IV, to give Hofstra an 85-80 victory.
“I just took what the defense gave me,” Estrada said. “I was in the right place as far as getting in their gaps. I was able to get to the lane and finish. The shots were just there.”
Although the Pride carried an 11-point lead entering halftime, thanks in part to 23 points from Estrada in the opening 20 minutes, a second half surge from GW pushed Hofstra to the brink and nearly over the edge, a lesson the Pride will remember going forward.
“[GW] turned to that three-two zone, and it caught us off guard,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “We weren’t prepared for that. Coach’s fault, but we’ll get better at it. We got a couple plays now that we could attack two-three zones if somebody else goes to it. But give a lot of credit to them, they really surprised us.”
GW’s defense clamped down coming out of the locker room, paving way for the Colonials to go on a 7-0 run to open the second half, holding Estrada without a point. With 13:50 left to play, the levy finally broke when Bishop hit a 3-pointer, one of his five in the game, to give GW its first lead of the evening.
It was then that the game turned into a shootout, as the two sides combined for 30 3-point attempts in the second half. Although Hofstra has shot a prolific rate from beyond the arc early this season, they didn’t expect to meet their match against GW.
“They’re usually not a great 3-point shooting team,” Claxton said. “We did want to protect the pain, but kudos to them. They were making shots tonight.”
Estrada answered Bishop’s go-ahead three minutes later to break his cold spell, eventually scoring 10 points in the second half. However, as much as Estrada will receive the shine from this game, pivotal shots were made up and down the lineup.
Tyler Thomas collected 16 points for his third straight double-scoring performance, and although both German Plotnikov and Amar’e Marshall only hit two shots each all night, they were ones the Pride couldn’t go without. However, the biggest shot of the night didn’t come until there was less than a minute remaining, when Darlinstone Dubar’s 3-pointer from the top of the arc was the dagger the Pride sought all night.
“I keep telling these guys, it’s going to be somebody different every night,” Claxton said. “All of these guys are capable, as you see, of making big shots, and that’s what it’s going to take.”
The Pride now sit at 3-0 following Monday’s victory. Now, as they get set to start a nine-game road trip, beginning on Thursday, Nov. 17, at San Jose State University, that will take them through California, Canada, Brooklyn and South Florida, they feel they can ride that early success until they return to the Mack just days before Christmas.
“This trip is going be big for us,” Claxton said. “We’re going to be road warriors. We’re more than capable of winning some of these games, and that’s what we’re going to go through.”
Photo courtesy of Evan Bernstein
