Forget that Simms guy, here's the Giants' quarterback of the future!
The Flying Dutchmen continued their Sybil act Thursday, when they trailed for the final 36-plus minutes of a discouraging 81-67 loss to first-place Northeastern at the Arena. The Dutchmen will attempt to reverse their slide tonight, when they visit Delaware. Here’s a look back at the loss to the Huskies and a look ahead to the Fightin’ Blue Hens.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Rokas Gustys (13 points on 6-of-6 shooting, 10 rebounds) had yet another double-double and Justin Wright-Foreman scored a game-high 20 points, but the Dutchmen never got closer than five points in the second half. Yet another #CAAHoops phantom technical foul, this one on Hunter Sabety, helped fuel a 15-6 run in the first half by Northeastern, which never trailed again. Wright-Foreman was just 6-of-21 from the field for the Dutchmen, who received 18 combined points from Eli Pemberton and Desure Buie, who were 7-of-22 from the field. Kenny Wormley added seven points in 15 minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Northeastern 1/25)
3: Rokas Gustys
2: Justin Wright-Foreman
1: Kenny Wormley
SEASON STANDINGS
Justin Wright-Foreman 53
Rokas Gustys 29
Eli Pemberton 20
Desure Buie 8
Jalen Ray 6
Joel Angus 4
Kenny Wormley 3
Stafford Trueheart 1
Hunter Sabety 1
NO CLOSE SHAVE
The 14-point loss was the most lopsided of the CAA season for the Dutchmen, who have played six league games decided by six points or fewer. Overall this year, the Dutchmen have played 12 games decided by six points or fewer or in overtime,
The six-point loss to Charleston Saturday marked the 12th time in 19 games this season a Hofstra game has been determined by six points or fewer or in overtime, tied for the most in the CAA with Drexel and James Madison. The Dutchmen are 9-3 in their “close shaves.”
HOFSTRA 12 (9-3)
Drexel 12 (6-6)
James Madison 12 (4-8)
Elon 11 (7-4)
UNC Wilmington 10 (4-6)
Towson 9 (4-5)
College of Charleston 8 (4-4)
Delaware 6 (4-2)
Northeastern 5 (3-2)
William & Mary 4 (3-1)
While recency bias makes these nail-biters seem new and unusual, “Team Barbasol” is a well-earned moniker for the Dutchmen. Of the 87 games the Dutchmen have played since the start of the 2015-16 season, a whopping 48 have been decided by six points or fewer or in overtime. They are 29-19 in the “close shaves.”
CAN’T STOP THE ROK
Rokas Gustys was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field Thursday night. It was the first time a Dutchman was perfect from the field (minimum five attempts) since Gustys was 8-for-8 against Towson on Feb. 18, 2016. He has the last four perfect shooting nights by a Hofstra player. Only one other player in the CAA era, Stephen Nwaukoni, had as many as two perfect shooting nights.
Rokas Gustys 6/6 vs. Northeastern 1/25/18
Rokas Gustys 8/8 vs. Towson 2/18/16
Rokas Gustys 5/5 vs. St. Bonaventure 11/28/15
Rokas Gustys 6/6 vs. Vermont 3/18/15
Ameen Tanksley 9/9 vs. Norfolk State 12/2/14
Darren Payen 6/6 vs. Fairleigh Dickinson 11/10/13
Stephen Nwaukoni 5/5 vs. Belmont 11/24/13
Stephen Nwaukoni 5/5 vs. Cleveland State 11/26/11
Greg Washington 6/6 vs. William & Mary 1/22/11
David Imes 8/8 vs. Drexel 1/3/11
Adrian Uter 6/6 vs. Nebraska 3/16/06
Kenny Adeleke 6/6 vs. Illinois State 11/25/01
DOUBLE DIGIT JWF
Junior guard Justin Wright-Foreman scored at least 10 points Thursday for the 43rd straight game. It is the fifth-longest active streak in Division I, per Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov, and moved him into a tie with former teammate Juan’ya Green for the third-longest streak by a Hofstra player since 1989-90 (as far back as my records go, at least at home).
Charles Jenkins 58 straight games 12/12/09-3/15/11***
Antoine Agudio 48 straight games 3/6/06-1/17/08****
Justin Wright-Foreman: 43 straight games 12/11/16-present
Juan’ya Green: 43 straight games 11/14/14-12/9/15
Loren Stokes 41 straight games 2/20/06-3/14/07***
Loren Stokes: 34 straight games 1/14/04-1/31/05
***streak ended with the end of the player’s Hofstra career
****Agudio had three DNPs during his streak
MOVIN’ ON UP
Justin Wright-Foreman and Rokas Gustys, the two newest members of the 1,000-point club at Hofstra, each continued moving up the list Thursday. With his 20 points on Thursday, Wright-Foreman surged from 28th to 25th and needs just 15 points tonight to surpass Ted Jackson for 24th place. Gustys, meanwhile, scored 13 points to move from 33rd to 31st and is 20 points shy of surging past former teammate Ameen Tanksley for 30th place.
22t.) Brian Bernardi 1,186 (2014-17)
22t.) Juan’ya Green 1,186 (2014-16)
24.) Ted Jackson 1,159 (1958-61)
25.) JUSTIN WRIGHT-FOREMAN 1,146 (2015-present)
26.) Nathaniel Lester 1,139 (2007-12)
27.) Wandy Williams 1,132 (1966-69)
28.) Mike Moore 1,128 (2010-12)
29.) Richie Swartz 1,107 (1959-62)
30.) Ameen Tanksley 1,090 (2014-16)
31.) ROKAS GUSTYS 1,071 (2014-present)
32.) Derrick Flowers 1,069 (1987-91)
33.) Darius Burton 1,060 (1993-97)
34.) Percy Johnson 1,045 (1950-53)
35.) Jim Shaffer 1,022 (1991-95)
36.) John Irving 1,018 (1974-77)
NEXT UP: IRVING
Rokas Gustys could become the most prolific Hofstra rebounder of the Division I era as early as tonight. With 10 rebounds on Thursday, Gustys (1,172 rebounds) moved within 14 rebounds of John Irving for second place on the school’s all-time all-time list. The only player with more rebounds than Irving is Bill Thieben, who pulled down a whopping 1,837 rebounds from 1953-56.
NEXT UP: THE ADMIRAL
Rokas Gustys is just 143 rebounds behind the CAA’s all-time leading rebounder, Hall of Famer David Robinson (1,314 rebounds for Navy from 1983-87). At his current season average of 11.4 rebounds per game, Gustys would need to play 13 more 10 more games (nine regular season CAA games and at least one tournament game).
OVER THE AIR
Hofstra will provide a live video and radio feed, as well as live stats, at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING DELAWARE
The Blue Hens, under second-year head coach Martin Ingelsby, are 11-11 this season and 4-5 in CAA play. Delaware suffered its third straight loss Thursday, when it fell to Charleston, 62-54. The Blue Hens’ losing streak began with a 93-60 loss to the Dutchmen on Jan. 18.
The Dutchmen and Blue Hens had no common foes during non-league play. Both the Dutchmen and Blue Hens have beaten Drexel and James Madison and lost to William & Mary, Charleston and Northeastern in CAA play, with the Blue Hens having been swept by Charleston. The Dutchmen split with Northeastern.
The Dutchmen, who were picked fourth in the CAA preseason poll, entered today ranked 167th at KenPom.com. The Blue Hens, who were picked seventh, were ranked 261st at KenPom.com as of early this morning.
According to the efficiency rankings at KenPom.com the Dutchmen rank fourth in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (111.4) and eighth in conference-only defensive efficiency (110.5). The Blue Hens rank 10th in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (100.4) and seventh in conference-only defensive efficiency (109.9).
KenPom.com predicts a 75-72 win by Hofstra. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 4-point favorites as of early this morning. Hofstra is 7-10 against the spread this season.
ALL-TIME VS. DELAWARE
Hofstra is 55-32 against Delaware in a series that began during the 1954-55 season. Delaware is Hofstra’s most common foe. The two schools were rivals in the East Coast Conference and the North Atlantic Conference/America East before heading to the CAA, along with Drexel and Towson, for the 2001-02 season.
The Dutchmen are looking to complete their fourth straight regular season series sweep of the Blue Hens, though Delaware ended Hofstra’s season with a win in the opening round of the CAA Tournament.
PERFECT IN THE ECC
With a win tonight, the Dutchmen will remain perfect in the ECC and all but lock up the season within a season, the one Litos won’t acknowledge.
HOFSTRA 3-0
Towson 1-1
Delaware 1-1
Drexel 0-3
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Valerie Bertinelli bias! (Per Wikipedia which is never wrong, the One Day At A Time actress and former wife of Eddie Van Halen was born in Delaware)
Scott Brunner bias! (The former Delaware quarterback played in the pros for the Giants and thus gave I-AA football some publicity)
The Stone Balloon bias! (The late great dive bar was the best bar I ever visited as a collegian)
We modeled our arena after your arena bias! (The Arena is basically a carbon copy of the Bob Carpenter Center, which is high praise because that building is great)
