(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: For the second time in as many games, the Dutchmen
took the no. 2 team in the CAA to the wire. (Technicality: Delaware draws the
no. 2 seed in this weekend’s tournament because Towson—which actually finished
ahead of the Blue Hens via tiebreakers—is ineligible for the postseason. You
may have read about it) The Dutchmen again raced out to a big start as they
took a 12-2 lead and were again resilient in the second half, when they fell
behind by eight a bit just before the halfway mark yet carried a two-point lead
into the under-4 timeout (sound familiar?). And they almost pulled off an
incredible, Reggie Miller-esque comeback from a six-point deficit in the final two
seconds (but they didn’t, so you’ll read about it in The Bad).
Moussa Kone had the most efficient game by a Dutchmen player
in the post-Jenkins era by scoring a career-high 20 points (the second straight
game he broke his previous best) on 10-of-13 shooting. He also shared the team
lead in rebounds (five), assists (three) and steals (one) with, you guessed it,
Stevie Mejia, who also tied a career high with 22 points. Mejia had his own 7-0
run to pull the Dutchmen within one point with seven minutes to play and
converted an old-fashioned 3-point play to give Hofstra a 53-50 lead with five
minutes to go.
The trio of Mejia, Kone and David Imes (10 points and five
rebounds) was almost enough to spoil Towson’s final game at the Towson Center.
The three combined to score 21 straight points for Hofstra over the final 10
minutes. And the Dutchmen hit all nine of their free throws, a welcome change for
a team that ranks among the worst free throw shooting squads in the country.
THE BAD: The Dutchmen squandered a lead of at least eight points
and lost for the sixth time this season. Towson’s 19-4 run—which happened right
after the Dutchmen scored the first five points of the second half to extend
their lead to seven points—proved to be the difference. Taran Buie drained his
first shot of the game, a 3-pointer 89 seconds into the game, and then missed
his final eight attempts including six from beyond the arc. Kone, Mejia and
Imes were a combined 20-of-32 from the field while the rest of their teammates
were 4-of-19.
And the Dutchmen capped a regular season filled with
agonizing near-misses in appropriate fashion over the final six seconds. Matt Grogan
drained a desperation, H-O-R-S-E-esque 3-pointer (the shot somehow banked in
off the far right backboard and through the net) to provide what seemed to be a
meaningless final bucket with a second to play. But Towson turned the ball over
on the inbounds, which gave the Dutchmen one more shot. Alas, Hofstra was out
of timeouts and Mejia took the inbounds pass from Grogan and missed a wild 3-pointer
from the right corner as the buzzer sounded. The two seniors trudged off the
floor together, with Grogan draping an arm over Mejia’s shoulders, as Towson
fans stormed the court to celebrate the greatest turnaround in Division I
history.
THE QUIRKY: Grogan’s 3-pointer gave him 98 career points.
Towson swept the season series from Hofstra for the first time since the
1990-91 season. The Dutchmen went 30-8 against Towson between sweeps.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Towson, 3/2)
3: Moussa Kone
2: Stevie Mejia
1: David Imes
SEASON STANDINGS***
50: Stevie Mejia
35: Taran Buie
28: Stephen Nwaukoni
20: David Imes
14: Moussa Kone
12: Jordan Allen
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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