Darlinstone Dubar, Jalen Ray and Omar Silverio each scored at least 20 points and combined to score 66 points to lead the Hofstra men’s basketball team to its 1,300th win in program history, doubling up their opponent’s score in a 102-51 victory over John Jay College, on Sunday, Dec. 12, at David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
“Great team win,” said Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton. “We had a couple of guys who had great performances.”
Abayomi Iyiola notched his first career double-double with the Pride, totaling 12 points along with the team season-high in rebounds with 14.
“I just do what my coach expects me to do,” Iyiola said. “They see me as a leader.”
Iyiola shot 6-for-9 from the field on the offensive end and had two blocks on the defensive end. In 23 minutes of play, he registered a game-high, and season-high for the Pride, plus 50 in the plus/minus category.
“[Iyiola] has been great all year,” Claxton said. “He’s a big part of what we do.”
Hofstra opened the game on a 24-6 run to grab an early 18-point lead that culminated in a three-pointer from Silverio with 12:48 to go in the first half.
John Jay fought back, going on a 14-4 run to cut the Hofstra lead to just eight in the final 6:18 of the opening half after Mikhail Leston’s jumper in the paint.
After a Hofstra timeout, the Pride outscored the Bloodhounds 19-4 for the remainder of the half as its lead ballooned to a 23-point difference of 49-26 going into the break.
In the second half, John Jay was unable to ever lessen the differential and did not score again until the deficit had reached 35.
The Hofstra lead went to 41 following a dunk from Dubar in transition with 10:45 to go.
At the 6:08 mark, it reached 52 on Silverio’s third three-pointer of the half.
The lead peaked at 55 points, as freshman Jaquan Carlos’ three-pointer, gave us a 102-47 score in the final two minutes of play.
Defensively, the Pride was led by Aaron Estrada who had a game-high five steals. Zach Cooks and Silverio also had four steals apiece.
John Jay struggled to take care of the ball with 25 turnovers while Hofstra capitalized scoring 38 points off Bloodhound turnovers while also taking care of the ball itself keeping its turnover total to the single-digit number of nine.
Estrada was the only member of the Pride to reach double digits in the assist category with 10 and, as a team, the Pride had 28, just two off the school record.
Hofstra shot 41-for-78 from the field while knocking home 14 three-pointers. John Jay only buried 22 of its 61 shot attempts.
For John Jay, only one player scored in double digits with 10 from guard Corey Jones Jr. Only three other Bloodhound players scored over five points: Frankie Barbato, Garrison Watkins and TJ Chisolm.
“I just want to win the game,” Iyiola said. “We should be a very good team.”
Hofstra’s victory lifts it to a 6-5 record while keeping a 5-0 undefeated record at home this season. The loss hands John Jay its seventh loss of the season at 2-7.
Next up, Hofstra travels to No. 24 University of Arkansas on Dec. 18. Tipoff is at 8 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
