(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: HOFSTRA WON ON THE ROAD! HOFSTRA WON ON THE ROAD!
Not only that, but the Dutchmen ended their epic 18-game, 12-month road/neutral
site losing streak by storming back from a 12-point second half deficit, their
biggest comeback of the post-Jenkins era. The Dutchmen outscored UNCW 44-23
after the Seahawks’ first basket of the second half and ended the game on a
20-10 run over the final 8:30.
Stevie Mejia had 18 points and three
3-pointers, the first two of which tied the game and the last of which extended
the Dutchmen’s lead to six points during the game-ending run. Stephen Nwaukoni
had his second straight double-double with 12 points (albeit on 3-of-9 shooting)
and 10 rebounds. David Imes (eight points, nine rebounds) flirted with a
double-double. Taran Buie struggled again from the field (3-of-9), but drained
the back-breaking 3-pointer with 2:24 left to put the Dutchmen up nine.
The
most impressive individual performance, though, belonged to Jordan Allen, who
was 3-of-3 from the field and recorded a mind-boggling seven steals in just 22
minutes (he fouled out). Allen finished one steal shy of the school record
(eight by Frank Walker and Speedy Claxton) and recorded the most steals by a
Hofstra player since Kenny Adeleke (AHHH!! NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS WHEN CURRENT
PLAYERS MATCH OR APPROACH ADELEKE’S FEATS!) on Feb. 4, 2004.
THE BAD: Well, there was that time the Dutchmen trailed by
10 at the half and 12 early in the second half, but they won a friggin’ road
game, lets not be picky. Also, everyone in the traveling party got to miss our
blizzard.
THE QUIRKY: The Dutchmen snapped their road losing streak at
UNCW exactly three weeks after the Seahawks snapped THEIR 16-game, one-year
road losing streak by beating Hofstra, 57-51, in Hempstead. And while the
Dutchmen didn’t have quite the travel adventure that UNCW did when it traveled
to and from Long Island on the same day thanks to bad weather along the east
coast, the Dutchmen did leave a day earlier to beat the snow. Moral of the
story: Messed-up travel plans lead to wins.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. UNCW, 2/9)
3: Stevie Mejia
2: Jordan Allen
1: Stephen Nwaukoni
SEASON STANDINGS***
34: Stevie Mejia
31: Taran Buie
24: Stephen Nwaukoni
14: David Imes
9: 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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