Do not try and bring spaghetti to today's game.
Everyone’s favorite hot-and-cold team ran hot just enough Saturday afternoon, when the Flying Dutchmen outlasted Delaware 82-77 in another wild back-and-forth game between the long-time rivals. The Dutchmen will (hopefully) look to complete a homestand ECC sweep this afternoon, when they are slated to host Drexel. Here’s a look back at the win over the Blue Hens and a look ahead to the Dragons.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
It was an old-school Saturday afternoon, when Aaron Estrada — dubbed “Mr. Midrange” by Speedy Claxton — scored a career-high 30 points without draining a 3-pointer and Jalen Ray came off the bench to score a season-high 23 points as the Dutchmen outlasted Delaware. The Dutchmen held a pair of 10-point leads in the first half before Delaware went on a 27-7 run spanning the halves to take a 42-33 lead. After Jameer Nelson Jr. missed a 3-pointer with a chance to put the Blue Hens up double digits, Estrada scored eight of his 20 second-half points in a 25-2 run that included spurts of 12-0 and 13-0 and put the Dutchmen up 58-44. The Dutchmen led by 14 points twice more and were up 11 before Delaware mounted one more run, a 10-0 spurt that pulled the Blue Hens within 68-67 with 4:03 left. But Jarrod Simmons, playing for the first time since he hurt his knee in the season debut against Houston on Nov. 9, scored his first Hofstra points by hitting a layup on the next trip and Estrada helped ice the game by hitting all six of his free throws down the stretch. Ray, coming off the bench for the first time since Dec. 2, 2019, scored seven points during the 25-2 run and drained one of his patented clutch 3-pointers to extend the lead to 75-70 with 2:03 left. Omar Silverio had seven points in the big run — the 3-pointer that put the Dutchmen ahead for good with 13:23 left as well as a four-point play — and finished with 15 points. Darlinstone Dubar (eight points, five rebounds) and Abayomi Iyiola (four points, six rebounds) were each limited to 27 minutes due to foul trouble.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Delaware, 1/15)
3: Aaron Estrada
2: Jalen Ray
1: Omar Silverio
SEASON STANDINGS
Aaron Estrada 27
Darlinstone Dubar 22
Jalen Ray 18
Zach Cooks 13
Abayomi Iyiola 10
Omar Silverio 8
Kvonn Cramer 4
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! What’s up with that? The unicorn score streak ended at eight victories for the Dutchmen, who are barely six years removed from their previous 82-77 win — the upset of Florida State in the Paradise Jam at the Virgin Islands on Nov 20, 2015. (I knew when looking this up that the streak was going to end, because all the near-misses reminded me of the research following the 81-77 win over Princeton on Dec. 1)
The Dutchmen have recorded (checks notes again) eight unicorn score victories this season. The Dutchmen recorded no unicorn scores last season after recording 13 unicorn scores in 2019-20 and 10 unicorn scores in 2018-19. 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.
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER SEVENTEEN GAMES
With Saturday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 10-7, which is tied for the 32nd-best start in program history. It’s the first time the Dutchmen have opened 10-7 since the 2017-18 season and the 10th time overall in program history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 17 games.
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 9-8
1976-77: 12-5
1999-2000: 12-5
2000-01: 13-4 (marked fifth win in program-record 18-game winning streak)
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 12-5 (most recent 12-5 start)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 11-6
2004-05: 11-6
2005-06: 13-4
2006-07: 12-5
2015-16: 12-5
2018-19: 14-3 (most recent 14-3 start, win in 17th game marked 11th win in the 16-game winning streak)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 12-5
1961-62: 15-2 (loss in 17th game snapped 14-game winning streak, most recent 15-2 start)
1962-63: 11-6
1963-64: 14-3
Some other notable 17-game starts:
2020-21: 11-6 (most recent 11-6 start)
2016-17: 9-8 (most recent 9-8 start, last time over .500)
2014-15: 13-4 (most recent 13-4 start)
2013-14: 6-11 (most recent 6-11 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2012-13: 5-12 (most recent 5-12 start)
2008-09: 10-6 (most recent 10-6 start)
2007-08: 4-13 (most recent 4-13 start)
2003-04: 7-10 (most recent 7-10 start)
1994-95: 3-14 (most recent 3-14 start, Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 2-15 (only 2-15 start, worst 17-game start in school history, VBK’s last team)
1990-91: 8-9 (most recent 8-9 start, last time under .500)
1987-88: 4-13 (loss in 17th game was seventh loss of program-record 13-game losing streak)
1985-86: 8-9 (last time under .500)
1964-65: 9-8 (last time over .500)
1959-60: 16-1 (most recent 16-1 start & Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 17th game was sixth win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)
1957-58: 13-4 (loss in 17th game snapped 10-game winning streak)
1939-40: 9-8 (over .500 for good)
1936-37: 7-10 (season complete)
Hofstra has never been 17-0, 1-16 or 0-17 through 17 games.
One season was completed in fewer than 17 games:
1937-38 (10-4)
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1945-46, 1948-49, 1949-50, 1951-52, 1954-55, 1957-58.
This feature is inspired by Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.
SPEEDY THROUGH SEVENTEEN
With Saturday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 10-7 as head coach. He is the second coach to open 10-7 at Hofstra, following Joe Harrington (1979-80), and the eighth to post a winning record through 17 games in his first season (or the first season of a second stints). Jack McDonald steered the Dutchmen to a 13-4 start in the first (and only) season of his second stint while Frank Reilly (1947-48) began 11-6 and Butch van Breda Kolff began 16-1 in his first stint (1955-56). Paul Lynner opened 11-6 in 1962-63, as did Mo Cassara in 2010-11 and Mike Farrelly in 2020-21.
ANOTHER BONKERS BLUE HENS GAME
If the Dutchmen are playing Delaware, it must be time for madness. As noted earlier, the Dutchmen led by 10 points in the first half, fell behind in the second half by nine points and led by as many as 14 before the Blue Hens stormed back and got within one point. In the previous game between the longtime rivals at Hofstra on Jan. 23, 2020 — the two regular season games last year were both played in New-ARK — the Dutchmen trailed by nine and led by 10 in the first half before falling behind by 11 in the second half and coming back to lead three times before losing, 73-71, on Kevin Anderson’s layup at the buzzer.
And in the second game of last year’s regular season series, the Dutchmen never trailed yet needed a last-second defensive stop to escape with a 68-67 win. Tareq Coburn’s closeout forced Ebby Asamoah to double-clutch and hoist what would have been the game-winning 3-pointer after the buzzer sounded. That was the third time in the last 10 years the winner of a Hofstra-Delaware game never trailed in a game it won by three points or fewer.
SWINGS AREN’T JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE
The Dutchmen’s swings were their most extreme (Poochie voice) in a win since Nov. 30, 2020, when the Dutchmen led Fairleigh Dickinson by 10 points in the first half, trailed by nine at halftime and led by as many as 19 points late in a 73-58 win. The Dutchmen experienced the other side of such swings against Northeastern on Jan. 9, 2021, when they trailed by 12 in the first half, went on a 21-2 run spanning the halves to take an eight-point lead but eventually lost, 67-56.
ELITE COMPANY FOR ESTRADA
Aaron Estrada joined a pretty select group Saturday, when he scored a career-high 30 points. Estrada is the first Hofstra player to score at least 30 points in a game since Jalen Ray scored 34 points in the 83-75 win over Delaware in the CAA tournament quarterfinals last Mar. 7. He is also the 19th Hofstra player to score at least 30 points in a game dating back to the 1988-89 season.
THIRTY WITHOUT A THREE
Estrada also joined an even more unique group by collecting his 30 points without hitting a 3-pointer. He was 12-of-15 from inside the arc, 0-for-3 from beyond it and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in becoming the first Hofstra player to score at least 30 points without draining a 3-pointer since Justin Wright-Foreman (I know, I was surprised too) scored 30 points while going 13-of-21 from inside the arc, 0-for-4 from beyond it and 4-of-9 from the free throw line in a 81-80 overtime loss to Drexel on Jan. 26, 2017.
Estrada is just the fifth Hofstra player in the post-ECC era (hi Litos!) to score at least 30 points without hitting a 3-pointer. Charles Jenkins did it against James Madison on Feb. 18, 2009 while Loren Stokes had five 30-point games without a 3-pointer over his final three seasons. This will not be the last time today you read about Loren Stokes!
And somebody named Speedy Claxton had two such games — one apiece in each of his final two seasons. Claxton scored 33 points without even TAKING a 3-pointer against Hartford on Feb. 28, 1998, when he was 9-of-18 from the field and 15-of-18 from the free throw line. He took just one 3-pointer against St. John’s on Dec. 22, 1999, when Claxton finished with 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the field and 7-of-12 shooting from the line. Different times.
SCORCHING SECOND HALF
The 20 second-half points Saturday by Aaron Estrada marked the third time this season a Hofstra player has scored at least 20 points in a half — Zach Cooks scored 20 points in the first half against Duquesne on Nov. 13 and Omar Silverio collected 22 points in the first half against Detroit Mercy on Nov. 27 — as well as the most second-half points by a player since Jalen Ray scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half of the 83-75 win over Delaware in the CAA quarterfinals last Mar. 7.
JALEN’S JOLT
Speedy Claxton, looking for a spark for a slumping Jalen Ray, brought the graduate senior star off the bench Saturday, when Ray scored 23 points and went 7-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point land, in 34 minutes. Ray entered Saturday with just 22 points in his last two games, a span in which he was 8-of-21 shooting, including 3-of-14 from beyond the arc.
Ray is the second Hofstra player this season to score at least 20 points off the bench. Omar Silverio scored 28 points while tying the school record with eight 3-pointers in the 98-84 win over Detroit Mercy on Nov. 27. This is the first season in which the Dutchmen have had two players score at least 20 points off the bench since 2016-17, when Eli Pemberton did it once and Justin Wright-Foreman did it three times.
STARTER’S STREAK STOPPED
The stint as a reserve Saturday snapped Jalen Ray’s streak of consecutive starts at 62 dating back to Dec. 7, 2019. Ray’s previous non-start came five days earlier, when he was battling an injury and played seven scoreless minutes without taking a shot against Canisius in a 64-57 win at the Boca Raton Classic. Ray’s streak of consecutive starts prior to coming off the bench is the longest since Loren Stokes made 93 straight starts before serving as a reserve in an 85-60 loss to Syracuse on Dec. 22, 2006. Stokes was battling food poisoning beforehand and needed an IV less than half an hour before opening tip. The things you learn here (courtesy of former Hofstra men’s basketball SID Jeremy Kniffin, who probably wondered why he picked up the phone after I texted him last night).
SIMMONS RETURNS
Jarrod Simmons, who missed the previous 15 games with a knee injury suffered in the first half of the season opener against Houston on Nov. 9, returned and played 13 minutes while backing up Abayomi Iyiola. Simmons scored his first points for Hofstra on a key layup with 3:40 remaining before fouling out with 1:16 to play. The 13 minutes are the fewest by a Hofstra player in a game in which he fouled out since Rokas Gustys fouled out in 13 minutes against Columbia on Nov. 29, 2016.
OVER THE AIR
If today’s game is played, it will be carried live on SNY, which is channel 60 in the Cablevision/Optimum/Altice are our overlords universe. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
FINGERS CROSSED
There are five CAA games scheduled for today. If they all go off as scheduled — no sure thing because of, well, you know — it will be the first time five conference games are played on the same day since Feb. 22, 2020, when the Dutchmen inched closer to another CAA regular season title by beating Delaware 78-62. We went to New-ARK for that game and lost Snowy, who is back and sparked the second-half comeback Saturday by coming in from the car. Don’t you dare suggest Snowy wasn’t the X factor Saturday.
SCOUTING DREXEL
The defending CAA champion Dragons (hi Crain), under sixth-year head coach Zach Spiker, are 7-6 this season and 2-1 in CAA play after beating Northeastern, 76-68, on Saturday afternoon.
The Dutchmen and Dragons had one common foe in non-league play. Hofstra beat Princeton, 81-77, on Dec. 1, three days before the Tigers edged Drexel, 81-79, in overtime. Neat! In the CAA, the Dutchmen have fallen to Towson and beaten Delaware while Drexel's done the opposite and beaten Towson while losing to Delaware.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fourth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 124th at KenPom.com. The Dragons, who were picked to finish third, are ranked 158th.
According to KenPom.com. the Dutchmen rank second in the CAA in offensive efficiency (109.4) and fifth in defensive efficiency (105.4). The Dragons rank fourth in offensive efficiency (105.8) and sixth in defensive efficiency (105.6).
Senior guard Camren Wynter, a Hempstead native who was named the CAA’s preseason player of the year, leads the Dragons with 14.7 points per game. Graduate student forward James Butler, a preseason all-CAA first-team selection, is averaging 13.4 points and a team-high 9.7 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Xavier Bell and graduate student guard Melik Martin, a transfer from Monmouth, are each averaging 10.3 points per game while sophomore forward Amari Williams ranks second in rebounding with 5.8 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts a 79-73 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 8-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 8-7 against the spread this season after Delaware covered by a half-point Saturday. Don’t gamble, kids.
THE ECC RACE
It’s back and so are the Dutchmen, who created a four-way tie for America’s most fun conference race by beating Delaware on Saturday. That makes this a really big game for the Dutchmen, who have won or shared the ECC title in each of the last three full seasons. Again, I implore you to stop looking at me, this is a real thing.
HOFSTRA 1-1
Delaware 1-1
Towson 1-1
Drexel 1-1
THE ECC ROUND ROBIN
This is the last of three consecutive scheduled games against ECC foes for the Dutchmen. The Dutchmen have played Delaware, Drexel and Towson in some order in three consecutive games five times since the schools joined the CAA prior to the 2001-02 season. The most recent ECC round robin occurred from Feb, 20-27, 2020, when the Dutchmen beat Drexel and Delaware on the road before falling to Towson at home.
ALL-TIME VS. DREXEL
Hofstra is 47-47 against Drexel in a series that began during the 1958-59 season. That's a tie! The Dutchmen are tied in the all-time series with 18 other schools, including former ECC foes Buffalo (2-2), Northeastern Illinois (1-1) and Troy (2-2). Hi Litos! In addition to Drexel and Buffalo, the only other schools whom Hofstra is tied with in the all-time series while playing more than two games are Boston University (11-11), CAA rival Charleston (7-7) and Pace (2-2).
The teams split the season series last season, when the games were played on back-to-back days at the Arena due to the pandemic. Drexel led by 17 points before hanging on for a 73-71 win on Feb. 6 while the Dutchmen led by 16 points in the second half before holding off a Dragons comeback in a 79-74 win on Feb. 7. The split was the first in the rivalry since the 2016-17 season.
The Dutchmen and Dragons have opposed one another as members of the East Coast Conference, the North Atlantic Conference/America East and the CAA. The only opponent Hofstra has faced more than Drexel is Delaware, whom the Dutchmen have played 98 times.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
You got to play in the NCAA Tournament after winning the CAA bias! (Sigh)
Spaghetti policy bias! (Once again, I implore you to know your Sunny)
Steph Curry brother-in-law bias! (Former Drexel star and four-year NBA veteran Damion Lee is married to Curry’s sister)
Dreamtime bias! (Daryl Hall’s biggest solo hit is one of the best songs of the ‘80s)
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