(Note: I have been terribly derelict about posting game
recaps this season, partially because I’ve been busy with work and fatherhood
but mostly because this season has been devastatingly depressing. However, I
hate the idea of not properly archiving these games, so to speak, so I came up
with a compromise that will allow me to chronicle #HofstraPun the season in a
basic, quick-hit fashion. So welcome to The Good, The Bad & The Quirky. Or, as I like to
call it, TGTBATQ. Pretty self-explanatory, and probably something I
should consider employing from the start next year so that I don’t fall into
this trap again. Enjoy!)
THE GOOD: Stevie Mejia (him again?!) tied a career high with
22 points on 7-of-13 shooting, the career-best fifth straight game in which he
shot at least 46 percent from the field. Stephen Nwaukoni pulled down 12
rebounds in a gritty, gutty effort, at least until he suffered a season-ending
shoulder injury in the final minute. Taran Buie stirred a bit by scoring 13
points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field and 5-of-9 from the line. The free
throw attempts were his most of the conference season. After a brutal shooting
performance in the first half (5-of-19), the Dutchmen shot 50 percent in the
second half (11-of-22) and briefly cut the deficit to five points.
THE BAD: A team that has absorbed blow after blow, from a
personnel standpoint, finally took the knockout punch when Nwaukoni crumpled to
the ground after getting tied up with Darryl McCoy. Nwaukoni, who was banged up
twice earlier in the game, was in such pain from his separated shoulder that he
couldn’t even walk off the court upright. He underwent surgery last week and is
expected to need up to seven months of rehab. Nwaukoni seemed to turn the
corner in his development in February, when he averaged 6.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg in
six games. A healthy Nwaukoni and a maturing Moussa Kone provide the Dutchmen
with a sneaky good frontcourt as well as the only thing resembling a foundation
heading into next year, so Mo Cassara can only hope Nwaukoni is 100 percent by
the opener.
Everything else paled in comparison to Nwaukoni’s injury,
but the Dutchmen never led again after surrendering an 8-0 run late in the
first half. Before that, the two teams played 12 minutes of basketball so
unsightly from an offensive perspective that James Naismith, tuning into NBC
Sports Network from the great beyond, may have regretted ever inventing the
game. Hofstra and Drexel combined for 15 points on their first 34 possessions.
The Dragons didn’t break double digits until Damion Lee’s jumper with 7:48 left
and the Dutchmen didn’t get to that magic figure until Mejia’s 3-pointer with 5:38
left. The Dutchmen opened the game by committing turnovers on their first three
possessions and on nine of their first 19 overall.
THE QUIRKY: This is the bad quirky, not the good quirky: Nwaukoni
became the second Hofstra junior big man in as many years to suffer a
season-ending injury at Drexel. David Imes missed the final five games of his junior
year after he suffered a hip injury in the first half last Feb. 11. Not kidding
at all when I suggest Kone skip the trip to Philadelphia next year.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Drexel, 2/18)
3: Stevie Mejia
2: Stephen Nwaukoni
1: Taran Buie
SEASON STANDINGS***
43: Stevie Mejia
32: Taran Buie
28: Stephen Nwaukoni
15: David Imes
12: Jordan Allen
5: Moussa Kone
3: Daquan Brown
2: Matt Grogan
1: Adam Savion
***21 points vacated
Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com
or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.
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