There were a lot of possible endings to the Choose Your Own
Adventure book that was the Flying Dutchmen’s home opener Friday night. Yes.
That’s right. I just referenced the Choose Your Own Adventure books. A new
all-time high for me!
But after consecutive 29-point losses to open the season,
even the most optimistic and rule-bending of fans (you’re not supposed to flip
through the book to find a happy resolution) could have imagined landing at the
most dramatic and unbelievable of endings: Shaquille Stokes draining a
Jenkins-esque 3-pointer with three seconds to play, South Dakota State missing
a 3-pointer at the buzzer and Stokes getting swallowed up by teammates at the
press table as a crowd of 3,142 (including a two-month-old who didn’t seem to
get the fuss) roared with a fury and enthusiasm straight out of February 2011
as it celebrated the Dutchmen’s stunning 66-63 win over the Jackrabbits.
For the second straight year, it is Hofstra—HOFSTRA—that has
authored the CAA’s first signature non-conference win. (Sorry, George Mason and
Delaware, but blame Virginia)
“I don’t know if everybody in here realizes how good that
team is,” Mo Cassara said. “That team we beat today is an NCAA Tournament team.
They’re going to win 25, 26, 28 games and they had Alabama beat [in the last
minute] down at Alabama. So great win for us.”
1.) It was a win that was cleansing and cathartic for those
who remembered last year. With nine newcomers on a 14-player roster, it’s not
fair to expect the Dutchmen to shoulder the burdens of last year’s failings. But
last night was desperately essential for everyone else who recalls how the
Dutchmen went 1-4 in games decided by three points or less and 2-8 in games
decided by six points or less last year.
“Feels great,” said one of those holdovers, Stevie Mejia,
who had perhaps his best game in a Hofstra uniform with 14 points, a
career-high seven rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in a
career-high 37 minutes. “Last year we had a lot of close games. I remember a
lot of close games. But it feels good just to mentally be strong enough just to
get this win.”
2.) In winning, the Dutchmen displayed the traits they
didn’t have last year. They won after trailing by seven points in the first
half and after heading into the locker room down by a point. The Dutchmen
didn’t win a single game they trailed at the half last year and the biggest
deficit they overcame in a win was a mere five points.
In the second half, the Dutchmen played strong defense and
never trailed after the 14:46 mark, largely because South Dakota State didn’t
mount a 4-0 “run” at any point after the 16-minute mark. Contrast that to last
year and the home game against Northeastern in particular, when the Huskies scored on 17 of their final 20 possessions in a two-point win.
“I thought we contested every shot,” Cassara said.
3.) Most of all, a year after they couldn’t find someone to
replace Charles Jenkins’ ruthlessness in the final minute, the Dutchmen have
multiple players who want the ball with the game on the line. Just ask Stokes.
“Taran and Stevie kept calling for the ball,” Stokes said of
the Dutchmen’s final possession. “I waved ‘em off, like ‘nah, I’m gonna be the
one to shoot this one.’ So I just shot it and it went in.”
Stokes’ final shot wasn’t the only thing that was
Jenkins-esque. After going 0-for-4 from the field in the first half, Stokes
scored all nine of his points on 4-of-5 shooting in the second half and scored
the Dutchmen’s last five points. He gave the Dutchmen a 63-60 lead with a
pretty floater in the lane with 54 seconds to play.
And like Jenkins, Stokes oozes personality and leadership.
Despite being the youngest player at the podium, he won the press conference
when he answered a question about how the Dutchmen took better care of the ball
Friday, when they committed just 10 turnovers after turning it over 40 times in
their first two games.
“We got tired of running those sprints,” Stokes said as
those in attendance laughed.
“Can I leave that one alone?” Cassara said. “Let that answer
it?”
4.) It’s only one game, but Buie looks like he is going to
answer, with affirmative authority, the answer to the question “Will ANY
Hofstra transfer EVER work out?” Playing in his first game in almost two years,
and fresh off a two-game suspension for a violation of team rules, Buie hit his
first shot, a 3-pointer with 13:29 to go in the first half, to give the
Dutchmen an 11-8 lead. He scored 11 of his 14 points in the first half,
including seven unanswered points that single-handedly pulled the Dutchmen even
at 25-25.
“When that first shot [was made by] Taran, it was almost
like the pressure just came off everybody,” Cassara said. “Because all of a
sudden we’ve got another threat to score. He’s got his feet underneath him and
then all of a sudden we’re putting the ball in the basket.”
It doesn’t seem a coincidence the Dutchmen’s guards started
putting the ball in the basket as soon as Buie arrived. Buie, Mejia, Stokes,
Kentrell Washington and Dallas Anglin were a combined 15-of-32 shooting last
night. That’s more field goals, in less than half the attempts, than the
Dutchmen guards had in the first two games combined, when they shot a brutal
12-of-66.
“It’s amazing: When you put the ball in the basket, you play
a little harder on defense,” Cassara said. “So credit to these guys.”
Buie also displayed an ability to create for others with a
pair of nifty assists. And he brings a Cornelius Vines-esque edge to the
Dutchmen, that type of grit that should turn him into the player Everyone Else
In The CAA Hates in the blink of an eye come January. Buie drew a pair of
charges and was a hand-clapping, opponent-annoying machine from the moment he
drained his first basket.
“It’s been a long journey, a long two years since I’ve been
on the court,” Buie said. “[There was] a lot of off-the-court stuff that I had
to get through to get to this place. I’m very proud of myself for making it
back on the court and then playing as well as I did today.”
5.) While the three guards dominated the stars of the game
(SPOILER ALERT!), the Dutchmen received the type of team-wide contributions
they rarely got from last year’s ravaged roster. Jimmy Hall (eight points, nine
rebounds and four blocks) once again flirted with a double-double while Moussa
Kone (six points, five rebounds) and Stephen Nwaukoni (eight points, five
rebounds) provided solid minutes down low. David Imes scored just three points
and Jordan Allen’s lone two points came from the free throw line, but Imes’
3-pointer gave the Dutchmen their first multi-possession lead of the game early
in the second half and Allen’s two free throws tied it in the final minute of
the first half.
“I give credit to these guys [and] especially guys [who are]
not here right now, like Moussa, Stephen, Jordan,” Mejia said. “They came in
and gave great minutes.”
6.) And now the useless but fun stats from last night: The
Dutchmen beat a current Summit League team for the first time. Three of the
four games they have played against Summit League teams have been decided by
three points or less…The Dutchmen avoided falling to 0-3 for the 22nd team in program history. They are now 8-7 in the third game of seasons in which
they have opened 0-2…The Dutchmen have won nine straight home openers and are
14-6 in home openers in the Defiantly Dutch Era and 30-12 in home openers since
moving to Division I.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. South Dakota State 11/15)
3: Stevie Mejia
2: Taran Buie
1: Shaq Stokes
SEASON STANDINGS
6: Jimmy Hall
4: Moussa Kone
3: Stevie Mejia
2: Taran Buie
2: Shaq Stokes
1: David Imes
Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com
or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.
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