Kneel before out slingshot, puny Big East opponent! (Didn't expect a non-Bart slingshot photo did you?)
Dear Big East: Invite us, you cowards.
Dear AP Top 25 voters: Rank us, you cowards.
The slingshot-toting Flying Dutchmen toppled another power conference Goliath Wednesday night, when Jean Aranguren scored the go-ahead basket with 2:19 left before the Dutchmen withstood a last-second rally by Seton Hall to earn a 49-48 win in the back end of the Icons of the Game doubleheader at Nassau Coliseum.
There is going to be A LOT of quirkiness from this one, so this is a really good time to continue breaking out the postgame boilerplate material — recap, 3 Stars, the Dutchmen’s record through however many games and Speedy Claxton’s standing with previous Hofstra coaches through however many games, plus the unicorn score and Keith Hernandez bits — in a separate Keep It Perky while saving the individual news and notes and preview of the next game for, well, the next one.
As always, for a reminder of how Keep It Perky came to be as a concept and a name (shout out Jess K.), click here for the inaugural Keep It Perky from the win over Stony Brook on Feb. 1. And for now…the Seton Hall Keep It Perky!
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Jean Aranguren collected a team-high 13 points and a game-high six assists and Why Can’t Seton Hall Get Guys Like Jaquan Sanders hit what proved to be the decisive 3-pointer before the Dutchmen held on to complete a stirring upset of Seton Hall. The Dutchmen and Pirates were separated by more than two possessions for just 57 seconds during this rock fight to end all rock fights. (Should have just shut off the shot clock) Aranguren’s 3-pointer with 3:52 left in the first half cut Seton Hall’s lead to 22-18 and began a half-spanning 12-5 run (hey, that was a run in this game) for the Dutchmen, who tied the game twice before Chaunce Jenkins’ 3-pointer put the Pirates ahead 30-27 with 16:13 remaining. The Dutchmen trailed for the next 11-plus minutes before Cruz Davis’ dunk put the hosts (it’s true, they let us be the home team at Nassau Coliseum!) ahead 40-39 with 5:12 left. There were four lead changes and one tie before Aranguren’s layup gave the Dutchmen a 46-45 lead. After Isaiah Coleman, one of just three returnees for Seton Hall from the defending NIT champions, missed a jumper, his ex-teammate Sanders drained a transition 3-pointer to give the Dutchmen their biggest lead. The teams traded empty trips before Dylan Addae-Wusu drained a 3-pointer following a missed free throw with 51 seconds left. TJ Gadsden missed a 3-pointer and Seton Hall called timeout with 14 seconds remaining, but Addae-Wusu didn’t drive to the basket as Shaheen Holloway hoped and Coleman’s corner 3-pointer glanced off the side of the backboard just before time expired. Sanders was the Dutchmen’s other double-digit scorer with 12 points while Davis had nine points and three steals. Gadsden (three points on 1-of-8 shooting) continued to struggle offensively but pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while adding two steals. Michael Graham had six points and KiJan Robinson sank a pair of 3-pointers for the Dutchmen’s only bench points.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Seton Hall, 11/13)
3: Jean Aranguren
2: Jaquan Sanders
1: Cruz Davis
Exact same order as against Iona!
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 9
Jaquan Sanders 5
Cruz Davis 4
I can safely declare this is the first time the same three players have comprised the 3 Stars of the Game standings three games into the season.
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! But it's the most unique repeat score we’ve ever had, which certainly lessens the disappointment as the dream of an all-unicorn score season disappears. This is the first time the Flying Dutchmen have won a game 49-48 since — and I am not kidding here — Feb. 15, 1946! Way back then, almost 18 months before my Mom was born and more than two years before my Dad was born, the Flying Dutchmen (who really were the Flying Dutchmen!) edged Brooklyn Polytech by that score.
This is by the first non-unicorn score that predates my parents as well as, obviously, the farthest I’ve had to dig to find a non-unicorn score since we started tracking these in 2018-19. The previous oldest repeat score was collected on Nov. 30, 2020, when the Dutchmen earned a 73-58 win (over Fairleigh Dickinson) for the first time since a victory over Bates on Jan. 5, 1952. The Dutchmen’s final win of last season was a 73-58 victory over Delaware in the CAA Tournament quarterfinals. So much quirkiness!
The Dutchmen have recorded 55 unicorn score victories since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores.
2024-25: Two unicorn scores
2023-24: Seven unicorn scores
2022-23: 12 unicorn scores
2021-22: 11 unicorn scores
2020-21: Zero unicorn scores (really)
2019-20: 13 unicorn scores
2018-19: 10 unicorn scores
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. You may also know it as a “Scorigami,” a term popularized in the NFL.
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
Jean Aranguren made history Wednesday night, when he became the first player to record a Keith Hernandez (RIP Hadji) in front of Hernandez’s Mets broadcast partner, Seton Hall radio play-by-play man Gary Cohen, by sinking the layup that gave the Dutchmen the lead for good at 46-45 with 2:19 left. Aranguren is the first player this season with multiple Keith Hernandezes as well as the first player to record at least two Keith Hernandezes within the first three wins of a season (or at least since the 2022-23 season).
Jean Aranguren tie-breaking layup vs. Old Westbury, 11/4/24 (19:47 left 2H)
Silas Sunday go-ahead layup vs. Iona, 11/8/24 (17:49 left 1H)
Jean Aranguren go-ahead layup vs. Seton Hall, 11/13/24 (2:19 left 2H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Jean Aranguren 2
Silas Sunday 1
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since the 2022-23 season)
Tyler Thomas 16
Darlinstone Dubar 14
Aaron Estrada 4
Warren Williams 3
Jean Aranguren 2
Silas Sunday 2
Jacco Fritz 2
Jaquan Carlos 2
German Plotnikov 2
Bryce Washington 1
The Keith Hernandez is bestowed upon the player who scores the points that put the Dutchmen ahead for good in a victory. The stat pays homage to Hernandez, the World Series-winning Cardinals and Mets first baseman who had a record 129 game-winning RBIs when the stat was inexplicably discontinued after the 1988 season.
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER THREE GAMES
As you may have gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 3-0. This ties the 2024-25 team for the best record in school history through three games! Nineteen other teams began 3-0, most recently the 2022-23 squad. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through three games:
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 2-1
1976-77: 2-1
1999-2000: 1-2
2000-01: 3-0
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 1-2
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 1-2
2005-06: 2-1
2006-07: 0-3 (most recent 0-3 start)
2015-16: 3-0
2018-19: 2-1 (most recent 2-1 start)
2022-23: 3-0 (most recent 3-0 start, obvs)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 1-2
1961-62: 2-1
1962-63: 1-2
1963-64: 3-0
Some other notable three-game starts:
2013-14: 1-2 (under .500 for good in Joe Mihalich’s first year as head coach)
2011-12: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
2008-09: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
2007-08: 1-2 (under .500 for good)
2005-06: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
2002-03: 1-2 (win over Lehigh in third game was only win in the non-conference schedule)
2001-02: 2-1 (loss in third game was Tom Pecora’s first as head coach)
1997-98: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
1995-96: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
1994-95: 1-2 (under .500 for good, fire Jay Wright)
1987-88: 1-2 (under .500 for good)
1980-81: 2-1 (loss in third game was Dick Berg’s first as head coach, over .500 for the last time)
1974-75: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
1970-71: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
1957-58: 1-2 (under .500 for the last time)
1955-56: 3-0 (Butch van Breda Kolff improves to 3-0)
1947-48: 3-0 (Frank Reilly improves to 3-0)
1946-47: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
1943-44: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
1942-43: 1-2 (under .500 for the last time)
1938-39: 1-2 (under .500 for the last time)
1936-37: 1-2 (IT HAS HAPPENED: 42-40 overtime win over Staten Island is first win in program history)
This feature is inspired by Mets superfan and blogger Greg Prince, who measures how the current Mets compare, record-wise, to previous teams through the same point in the season.
NUMBER TEN THROUGH ONE HUNDRED AND THREE
With Wednesday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 69-34 (.670) as head coach. That’s tied for the best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 103 games at the helm.
Paul Lynner 69-34 (.670, 103rd game was the 19th game of his fourth season in 1965-66)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 69-34 (.670, 103rd game was the first game of his fifth season in 1959-60)
Frank Reilly 69-34 (.670, 103rd game was the third game of his fifth season in 1951-52)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 69-34 (.670, 103rd game was the third game of his fourth season in 2024-25)
Joe Mihalich 55-48 (.534, 103rd game was the second game of his fourth season in 2016-17)
Dick Berg 52-51 (.505, 103rd game was the 21st game of his fourth season in 1983-84)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 52-51 (.505, 103rd game was the 18th game of his fourth season in 1991-92)
Roger Gaeckler 46-57 (.447, 103rd game was the first game of his fifth season in 1975-76)
Tom Pecora 44-59 (.427, 103rd game was the 13th game of his fourth season in 2004-05)
Jay Wright 44-59 (.427, 103rd game was the 21st game of his fourth season in 1997-98)
This marks the first time Claxton has been tied for the best-known winning percentage through his most recent game coached since he was also in a four-way tie with Lynner, VBK I and Reilly following his 97th game, a 69-58 win over UNC Wilmington on Feb. 29. Spoiler alert: The teams directed by VBK I and Reilly are in the midst of lengthy season-opening winning streaks, so these Dutchmen need to keep winning for Claxton to retain a share of the top spot.
Dick Berg and VBK II remain tied for the third straight game while Roger Gaeckler moves ahead of perpetual slacker Tom Pecora, who is tied for last place with fellow perpetual slacker Jay Wright. Perpetual slackers!
The records are incomplete for Jack McDonald’s first stint from 1936 through 1943 as well as the tenure of Jack Smith (1943-46).
Smith finished 27-32 in his three seasons while Mo Cassara finished 38-59 in his three seasons. Three coaches had one-season tenures lasting at Hofstra. McDonald went 18-6 in the lone season of his second stint in 1946-47 while Joe Harrington went 14-14 in 1979-80 and Mike Farrelly went 13-10 in 2020-21.
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