Crank up the Queen. The Flying Dutchmen earned just their second in-season tournament championship of the CAA era (and really, we don’t count the first one) Monday afternoon, when they grinded out a 64-57 win over Canisius in the Naismith Bracket final of the Del Boca Vista, err, Boca Raton Classic. The Dutchmen will sort of play another final game in the Boca Raton Classic this afternoon, when they visit St. Bonaventure in a “campus round” game. These things are confusing. Anyway, off to Jersey again after a hectic week so here's a quick look back at the win over the Golden Griffins and a look ahead to the Bonnies, with a more in-depth look at both games coming before the SUNY-Stony Brook game Tuesday.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Tareq Coburn (18 points, 11 rebounds) posted his second double-double of the season and fueled both a fast start for the Dutchmen as well as a 9-2 run that completed a comeback from a seven-point second half deficit and put them ahead for good. Coburn scored seven of the first 10 points and then had seven points — including the tie-breaking old-fashioned 3-point play — in the run that gave the Dutchmen a 57-50 lead with 3:22 to go. Desure Buie then scored the final seven points, including five history-making points from the free throw line, to finish with a game-high 19 points. Buie added six assists, four rebounds and four steals. Eli Pemberton (16 points, nine rebounds) nearly recorded a double-double. Jalen Ray didn’t start and was limited to seven scoreless minutes in the second half due to an ankle injury.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Canisius 12/2)
3: Tareq Coburn
2: Desure Buie
1: Eli Pemberton
SEASON STANDINGS
Desure Buie 15
Tareq Coburn 13
Eli Pemberton 12
Isaac Kante 7
Jalen Ray 7
THIS IS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF FRIENDS’ FIRST SEASON, WHAT WOULD THIS GAME BE TITLED IF IT WAS AN EPISODE OF FRIENDS?
The One With The Del Boca Vista Win
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
Unbelievably, yes! You’d think 64-57 scores would be common, but while the Dutchmen have recorded three 64-58 wins since the 1981-82 season, beat Delaware 64-59 during the 2017-18 season and defeated South Dakota 65-57 during the 2016-17 season, the Dutchmen had never before earned a 64-58 win. This is the Dutchmen’s fifth unicorn score of the season. They recorded 10 unicorn scores last season. The term unicorn score was coined by Mets superfan, historian and blogger Greg Prince to describe a score by which the Mets had never previously won.
11/9/19: 94-74 over Monmouth
11/15/19: 111-69 over New York Tech
11/21/19: 88-78 over UCLA
12/1/19: 91-69 over Holy Cross
12/2/19: 64-57 over Canisius
ST. BONAVENTURE AND THE ATLANTIC 10
St. Bonaventure, under 13th-year head coach Mark Schmidt, is 4-4 after a 71-64 win over Florida Atlantic in the Hall of Fame bracket final of the Boca Raton Classic on Monday. The Bonnies, who have won three straight, were picked to finish fifth in the A-10’s preseason poll. Sophomore guard Kyle Lofton, who leads the team with 13.3 points per game, was selected to the preseason A-10 second team while sophomore forward Osun Osunniyi, who leads St. Bonaventure with 7.3 rebounds per game, was voted to the preseason all-defensive team. Lofton and Osunniyi were high school teammates at Putnam Science Academy in New Jersey.
This completes the Boca Raton Classic for both teams, even though the Boca Raton Classic is in Florida and ended Monday and today’s game is in upstate New York. Once again, these preseason tournaments are weird.
Thanks to the Boca Raton Classic, the Dutchmen and Bonnies have two common foes this season. The Dutchmen beat Canisius and fell to San Diego while St. Bonaventure beat San Diego and lost to Canisius.
The Dutchmen are 1-4 all-time against St. Bonaventure. The two teams last met three years ago yesterday, when the Bonnies recorded an 81-75 victory at the Arena. This marks the seventh straight season in which Hofstra has faced at least one A-10 school, Hofstra is 36-104 all-time against current Atlantic 10 schools, a membership that includes former Dutchmen conference foes George Mason (CAA), La Salle (ECC) and VCU (CAA).
At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 122nd while St. Bonaventure is ranked 144th. KenPom.com predicts a 70-68 loss for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 3-point underdogs. The Dutchmen are 4-3 against the spread this season after Desure Buie’s two “meaningless” free throws in the waning seconds Monday. Don’t bet, kids.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Tareq Coburn bias! (The Dutchmen forward transferred to Hofstra after one season at St. Bonaventure)
Woj Bomb bias! (The ace NBA reporter graduated from St. Bonaventure)
You’re celebrating the 50th year since your Final Four today bias! (We’re kinda doomed)
Mike Vaccaro bias! (The New York Post columnist graduated from St. Bonaventure and might be a bigger fan of the Bonnies than I am of the Dutchmen)
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