A bunch of Hofstra fans prepare for the trek to Shelbyville, err, Stony Brook in this file photo.
The Flying Dutchmen didn’t suffer a letdown Saturday, when they followed the stunning win over Monmouth by earning an 88-82 win over another MAAC foe, Rider. The Dutchmen will look to complete a perfect three-game road trip tonight, when they travel to the hinterlands of Long Island to face SUNY-Stony Brook. Here’s a look back at the win over Rider and a look ahead to the Patriots from a state university.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Jalen Ray’s 3-pointer with 4:51 remaining broke a 71-71 tie and started a decisive 9-0 run as the Dutchmen outlasted Rider in a game that featured 10 lead changes. Rider pulled within 80-77 with 1:38 remaining but the Dutchmen drained their final eight free throws. Justin Wright-Foreman (a game-high 30 points) and Eli Pemberton (28 points) became the first pair of Hofstra teammates in more than six years to score at least 25 points in the same game. Ray finished with 17 points while Joel Angus (eight points, 10 rebounds) flirted with a double-double.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Rider 12/9)
3: Justin Wright-Foreman
2: Eli Pemberton
1: Jalen Ray
SEASON STANDINGS
Justin Wright-Foreman 21
Eli Pemberton 12
Rokas Gustys 11
Joel Angus 4
Jalen Ray 3
Desure Buie 2
COACHSPEAK: “That’s a big boy win, to come in here and get that. These guys don’t lose much here. Take it from me, I came here for 15 years and didn’t win very much. Tough place to play.”
CLEAN SWEEP
Hofstra players earned both individual awards handed out by the CAA last week as Justin Wright-Foreman was named the player of the week and Jalen Ray was selected the freshman of the week. Wright-Foreman scored 54 points in the wins over Monmouth and Rider while Ray racked up 31 points and hit the game-winning 3-pointer in the stunning win over Monmouth. Ray entered the week with just 24 points in his first eight games, including 14 in his previous seven contests.
The player of the week honor is the first of the season and the third in the last two seasons for Wright-Foreman, who shared player of the week honors with Elon’s Tyler Seibring for the week ending Jan. 22 and was the sole recipient for the week ending Feb. 12. Wright-Foreman is the second member of the Dutchmen to win player of the week honors this season.
Ray is the first Hofstra player to win freshman of the week honors this season and the first since Pemberton won the final of his two weekly honors for the week ending Dec. 18, 2016.
QUEENS/CONNECTICUT CONNECTION
Justin Wright-Foreman (30 points) and Eli Pemberton (28 points) became the first Flying Dutchmen teammates to score at least 25 points in the same game since Charles Jenkins (28 points) and Mike Moore (25 points) performed the feat in an 81-78 overtime win over William & Mary on Feb. 13, 2011. It was the second time Jenkins and Moore each scored at least 25 points in a game. Jenkins scored 40 points and Moore added 28 points in an 89-85 overtime win over Binghamton on Dec. 8, 2010.
Both Jenkins and Wright-Foreman grew up in Queens while both Moore (New Haven) and Pemberton (Middletown) grew up in Connecticut.
PEMBERTON’S PERFECT 10
Eli Pemberton went 10-for-10 from the foul line Saturday. It was the most free throws made without a miss since Justin Wright-Foreman went 15-for-15 against UNCW on Feb. 18 and the sixth time in the NAC/America East/CAA era (1994-present) that a Dutchman has been perfect from the line in 10 or more attempts.
Eli Pemberton: 10-10 vs. Rider 12/9/17
Justin Wright-Foreman: 15-15 vs. UNCW 2/18/17
Zeke Upshaw: 12-12 vs. Towson, 2/22/14
Charles Jenkins: 10-10 vs. Delaware, 1/7/09
Carlos Rivera: 10-10 vs. Siena, 11/29/06
Danny Walker: 10-10 vs. James Madison, 2/8/02
FINE FROM THE LINE
The Dutchmen were 17-of-18 (94.4 percent) from the free throw line. It was the program’s best performance from the line (minimum 10 attempts) since a perfect 15-for-15 effort against Delaware on Feb. 26, 2011. The Dutchmen were perfect from the line in three game during the 2010-11 season (12-for-12 against Towson on Dec. 4, 2010 and 11-for-11 against George Mason on Feb. 2, 2011). In addition, Saturday’s effort marked the second time this season the Dutchmen have shot at least 90 percent form the line. They were 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) against Army on Nov. 10.
GUSTYS’ GOOSE EGG
The Dutchmen won Saturday even though starting center Rokas Gustys was held scoreless in 30 minutes. It was just the fourth time Gustys hasn’t scored in a game and the first time since his freshman season. The Dutchmen, surprisingly, are 3-1 in those games with wins over Jackson State (Nov. 28, 2014) and UNCW (Jan. 17, 2015) and a loss to William & Mary (Feb. 22, 2015).
GUSTYS CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Rokas Gustys did notch another career milestone Saturday, when he pulled down 10 rebounds to move past George Mason’s Kenny Sanders into seventh place on the CAA’s all-time list. Gustys (1,031 rebounds) is 25 rebounds away from surpassing UNCW’s Keith Rendleman for sixth place. He is just 85 rebounds away from second-place Vernon Butler (1,115) and 284 rebounds away from moving ahead of Hall of Famer David Robertson (1,314) atop the list.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game will be carried live on ESPN3. Hofstra will carry live audio and video and offer live stats here.
SUNY-STONY BROOK AND THE AMERICA EAST
SUNY-Stony Brook is 4-6 this season after a 76-66 win over Columbia last Thursday. The Patriots have won three of their last four games, a stretch that began with a 101-58 win over NAIA Shawnee State (snicker snicker).
At KenPom.com today, Hofstra is ranked 146th while SUNY-Stony Brook is ranked 189th. The wise guys, perhaps with Long Island’s recovering gamblers in mind, have not established a line for this game. Hofstra is 3-3 against the spread this season.
SUNY-Stony Brook has four players averaging at least nine points per game, led by Akwasi Yeboah (13.6 points per game) and Tyrell Sturdivant (11.3 points per game).
Because Hofstra wants as little to do with SUNY-Stony Brook as possible, the two schools have no mutual opponents this season. Perhaps next year the Dutchmen and Patriots can both schedule an NAIA foe.
Hofstra is 20-5 all-time against SUNY-Stony Brook, including 2-1 since the series resumed in 2014. The Dutchmen dominated the Patriots in a 96-58 win at the Arena last Dec. 13. It was the program’s third-biggest margin of victory over a Division I foe in the CAA era (2001-present).
Hofstra is 13-15-1 in all sports against SUNY-Stony Brook since the two schools began scheduling each other again in the spring of 2014, including 8-4-1 since the 2016-17 school year began.
Hofstra is 80-33 all-time against current America East schools. Since joining the CAA in 2001-02, the Dutchmen have faced at least one America East opponent every season except 2012-13. SUNY-Stony Brook, which was a Division III school for decades, completed its transition to Division I and joined the America East upon Hofstra’s departure.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
We have still never lost to you in football bias! (duh)
Thanks to you the America East changed its conference tournament format bias! (SUNY-Stony Brook couldn’t win semifinal games played at semi-neutral sites so it cried and got the tourney format changed to the “playoffs”)
You wish you were in the CAA but we wouldn’t let you in bias! (it’s true)
You used to play home games at Port Jefferson bias! (it’s true, Wikipedia never lies)
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