One more #NSFW Sunny clip for the weekend!
A lopsided win for the Flying Dutchmen AND an opportunity to make copious Charlie Kelly references? Let’s hope Saturday is a sign of magical things to come for the Dutchmen, who moved over .500 for the first time this season with a 78-58 win over Merrimack and will play for a title of sorts against Pennsylvania in the Cathedral Classic this afternoon.
Given the quick turnaround as well as Saturday’s abbreviated I’ll Be Quirky, I’m totally changing things up here by going old-school with the pre-Keep It Perky jam-packed IBQ, which will also feature the news and notes from Friday’s 63-58 win over La Salle. So without further ado!
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Preston Edmead (22 points, five assists) and Silas Sunday (a career-high 15 points to go along with seven rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots) each emerged from their mini-slumps in decisive fashion as they led the Dutchmen to a stress-free win over Charlie Day U. Edmead scored the first six points in an 8-0 run that gave the Dutchmen the lead for good at 18-10 (spoiler alert). The Little Green Ghouls pulled within five points or fewer twice before Biggie Patterson hit a pair of free throws to begin a half-ending 14-6 run to extend the Dutchmen’s lead to 43-30. Todd Brogna hit consecutive 3-pointers to pull the Milksteaks within 45-36 with 17:30 left, but Edmead drained a 3-pointer out of a timeout to begin a 9-0 run capped by five straight points from Sunday. The Spaghetti Policies got no closer than 15 the rest of the way as the Dutchmen extended their lead to as many as 23 points. Edmead was 5-of-11 from 3-point land and 7-of-7 from the free throw line as he converted TWO four-point plays, including one in which he was fouled by his brother Malik. Now THAT’S quirky! Sunday just missed the Christian Laettner by going 7-of-8 from the field and hitting his only free throw. Cruz Davis scored eight of his 15 points during the run that ended the first half while finishing with eight assists and four rebounds. Biggie Patterson had four points and a team-high eight rebound while Victory Onuetu added six points and six rebounds.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Charlie Day U., 11/29)
3: Preston Edmead
2: Silas Sunday
1: Cruz Davis
SEASON STANDINGS
Cruz Davis 15
Preston Edmead 12
Biggie Patterson 6
Victory Onuetu 4
Silas Sunday 2
Joshua DeCady 1
German Plotnikov 1
Silas Sunday 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! Well, I guess the day wasn’t perfect after all. But at least it’d been a long time between 78-58 wins. Prior to Saturday, the Dutchmen hadn’t earned a win by that score since way back on Dec. 28, 1959, when they beat future ECC foe Lehigh in the Long Island Christmas basketball tournament at Hofstra. My parents weren’t even teenagers yet!
The Dutchmen have no unicorn score victories this season and 60 unicorn score victories since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores.
2025-26: Zero unicorn scores
2024-25: Seven 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?
Preston Edmead continued making Keith Hernandez history Saturday, when he hit the tie-breaking 3-pointer to give the Dutchmen the lead for good at 13-10 with 15:25 left. All three Keith Hernandez collected via a field goal this season have been 3-pointers. Edmead is the only freshman ever to record a Keith Hernandez (at least since the 2022-23 season), so of course every Keith Hernandez he records is historic. What? They are!
German Plotnikov go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Molloy, 11/10/25 (18:47 left 1H)
Preston Edmead go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Bucknell, 11/14/25 (13:30 left 2H)
Biggie Patterson tie-breaking free throw vs. La Salle, 11/28/25 (1:35 left 2H)
Preston Edmead tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Merrimack, 11/29/25 (15:25 left 1H)
SEASON STANDINGS
Preston Edmead 2
Biggie Patterson 1
German Plotnikov 1
ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since the 2022-23 season)
Tyler Thomas 16
Darlinstone Dubar 14
Jean Aranguren 5
German Plotnikov 4
Aaron Estrada 4
Cruz Davis 3
Michael Graham 3
Warren Williams 3
Preston Edmead 2
Silas Sunday 2
Jacco Fritz 2
Jaquan Carlos 2
Biggie Patterson 1
Eric Parnell 1
KiJan Robinson 1
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 SEVEN GAMES
The Dutchmen improved to 4-3 with Saturday’s win. This ties the 2025-26 team for the 31st-best record in school history through seven games. Twenty-three other teams began 4-3, most recently the 2020-21 squad. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through seven games:
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 3-4
1976-77: 6-1
1999-2000: 3-4
2000-01: 5-2
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 4-3
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 3-4
2004-05: 7-0 (most recent 7-0 start)
2005-06: 5-2
2006-07: 4-3 (over .500 for good)
2015-16: 5-2
2018-19: 4-3 (marked first win in the 16-game winning streak)
2022-23: 5-2
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 4-3
1961-62: 6-1
1962-63: 5-2
1963-64: 6-1
Some other notable seven-game starts:
2024-25: 5-2 (most recent 5-2 start)
2021-22: 3-4 (most recent 3-4 start)
2013-14: 2-5 (most recent 2-5 start)
2012-13: 3-4 (under .500 for good because…well, you know)
2011-12: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
2008-09: 6-1 (most recent 6-1 start)
2002-03: 1-6 (most recent 1-6 start)
1994-95: 2-5 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-6 (VBK’s last team)
1982-83: 6-1 (first loss in 7th game)
1978-79: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
1973-74: 1-6 (win snapped the most recent season-opening six-game losing streak, the Dutchmen have never begun 0-7)
1960-61: 7-0
1959-60: 7-0
1955-56: 7-0
1954-55: 7-0
1951-52: 7-0
1947-48: 7-0
1943-44: 3-4 (under .500 for good)
Hofstra has never been 0-7 through seven games. It’s the first record they’ve never experienced! Let’s keep it that way.
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43.
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.
NUMBER TEN THROUGH ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY
With Friday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 85-55 (.607) as head coach. That’s the fourth-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 139 games at the helm.
Butch van Breda Kolff I 103-37 (.736, 140th game was the 14th game of his sixth season in 1960-61)
Frank Reilly 101-39 (.721, 140th game was the 11th game of his sixth season in 1952-53)
Paul Lynner 88-52 (.629, 140th game was the fifth game of his sixth season in 1967-68)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 85-55 (.607, 140th game was the seventh game of his fifth season in 2025-26)
Joe Mihalich 73-67 (.521, 140th game was the seventh game of his fifth season in 2017-18)
Dick Berg 71-69 (.507, 140th game was the first game of his sixth season in 1985-86)
Tom Pecora 71-69 (.507, 140th game was the 20th game of his sixth season in 2005-06)
Roger Gaeckler 70-70 (.500, 140th game was the eighth game of his sixth season in 1977-78)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 70-70 (.500, 140th game was the 26th game of his fifth season in 1992-93)
Jay Wright 69-71 (.493, 140th game was the 27th game of his fifth season in 1998-99)
With nine coaches at or above .500 and the last-place coach just two games under the break-even mark, this is the closest the all-time Hofstra men’s basketball standings look like modern-day NHL standings. No movement as the ties remain intact, but a notable game no. 140 in Butch van Breda Kolff’s second stint as he climbs to .500 for the last time by beating Cal-Irvine in the penultimate game of the 1992-93 season. And perpetual slacker Jay Wright inches closer to .500 in his 140th game but remains in last place. Perpetual slacker!
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.
STAYING SINGLE (DIGITS)
OK let’s get to some long-overdue news and notes! The Dutchmen never led by more than nine nor trailed by more than two in Friday’s 63-58 win over La Salle. The win ended a seven-game losing streak for the Dutchmen in games in which neither team opened up a double-digit lead. Prior to Friday, the Dutchmen hadn’t won such a game since beating Rice, 68-63, in overtime in the Baha Mar Hoops: Nassau Championship on Nov. 29, 2024. Hey! That was a year ago yesterday!
WE’RE (ALMOST) STREAKING!
While the Dutchmen won consecutive games over North Carolina A&T in the regular season finale and the first round of the CAA Tournament from Mar. 1-7, Saturday’s 78-58 win over Merrimack gives the Dutchmen consecutive regular season wins for the first time since they won three straight from last Dec. 1-9. Hey! That streak started a year ago tomorrow! That was the longest the Dutchmen went without at least two straight regular season wins since they went a whopping 423 days between a three-game winning streak from Nov. 16-18, 2012 through Jan 11-15, 2014. Wow! Spanning two years!
(NOT MUCH) BENCH BRIGADE
Joshua DeCady (two points) and Silas Sunday (one point) accounted for the only points by reserves in Friday’s win over LaSalle. The three points by bench players are the fewest for the Dutchmen in a single game since Mar. 2, 2024, when KiJanRobinson’s two points accounted for the only points by non-starters in an 87-76 loss to Charleston.
PRESTO!
Freshman Preston Edmead has spent the first two days of the Cathedral Classic bouncing back from his struggles in an 81-76 loss to Temple on Nov 19. Edmead, whose six points against Temple snapped a streak of five straight double-digit scoring performances, scored 11 points on Friday against Ls Salle before leading the Dutchmen with 22 points against Merrimack yesterday. The 22 points were one shy of Edmead’s career-high, set Nov 14 in an 83-77 win over Bucknell, and made him the first Hofstra freshman with multiple 20-point games since Eli Pemberton had six 20-point efforts during the 2016-17 season. Edmead’s 108 points (15.4 ppg) through seven games are the most by a Hofstra freshman through seven games since Antoine Agudio collected 119 points (17.0 ppg) in 2004-05. Not bad company.
EDMEAD DISHING DIMES
Preston Edmead had five assists apiece Friday and Saturday and has at least five assists in all seven games this season. Edmead’s streak is the longest by a Hofstra player since Jaquan Carlos, who ended his Dutchmen career by finishing with at least five assists in seven straight games from Feb. 17 through Mar. 11, 2024. That streak began with Carlos’ school-record 19-assist performance against Northeastern.
SEVEN WISHES
Preston Edmead was 7-of-7 from the free throw line Saturday. He’s the first Hofstra player to enjoy a perfect game from the line (minimum seven attempts) since Jean Aranguren went 8-of-8 in a 75-69 overtime loss to Quinnipiac on Dec. 29.
THE FRESHMAN 20/5 CLUB
Preston Edmead established his own impressive club Saturday, when he collected 22 points and five assists. Edmead is the first Hofstra freshman since the 1994-95 season — the first season in which Hofstra started including assist totals in each player’s game-by-game logs — to finish with at least 20 points and five assists in at least two games.
Preston Edmead: 22 points/five assists vs. Merrimack, 11/29/25
Preston Edmead: 23 points/five assists vs. Bucknell, 11/14/25
Eli Pemberton: 21 points/five assists vs. Charleston, 1/7/17
Chaz Williams: 20 points/nine assists vs. Drexel, 2/10/10
Carlos Rivera: 22 points/five assists vs. VCU, 1/31/04
Rick Apodaca: 22 points/seven assists vs. New Hampshire, 2/18/00
Speedy Claxton: 22 points/five assists vs. Maine, 1/26/97
Hey look who was the first Hofstra freshman in the Defiantly Dutch Era (1993-pres) to finish with at least 20 points and five assists in the same game! Speaking of Speedy…
PRESTON VS. SPEEDY
Preston Edmead’s first seven games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first seven games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 15.7 points per game/2.0 assists per game/5.0 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 15.4 ppg/5.6 apg/0.9 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
CRUZ-IN
Cruz Davis continued his impressive season in the first two games of the Cathedral Classic, when he had a team-high 22 points against La Salle Friday before scoring 15 points against Merrimack yesterday. Davis has scored in double figures in all seven games this season and in 28 of the 39 games in which he’s played for Hofstra after reaching double figures just five times over 28 games in his first two seasons at Iona and St. John’s. The Dutchmen are 16-12 when Davis scores in double figures.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday likely had the best game of his career Saturday, when he scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting while adding seven rebounds and three blocks in 20 minutes off the bench. The 15 points were a career-high for Sunday, who had 14 points in a 90-76 win over Iona on Nov. 8, 2024. The 15 points were also just one fewer than he had in the previous five games entering Saturday. The seven rebounds tied a season-high set against Temple on Nov. 19 while the three blocks tied a career-high set six times previously, most recently against North Carolina A&T on Mar. 1.
SUNDAY NEARLY PULLS THE CHRISTIAN LAETTNER
Minus everyone hating him in college, of course! Sunday was 7-of-8 from the field Saturday, when he made his first seven shots before missing a layup as he was mugged without receiving a whistle CHARLIE DAY BIAS, and 1-of-1 from the free throw line. Sunday’s shooting performance is the best by a Hofstra player (minimum eight attempts) since Michael Graham was also 7-of-8 from the field in a 74-63 win over Not Twitter Guy on Jan. 30.
BIGGIE KEEPS COMING UP, WELL, BIG
Biggie Patterson continued his fast start during the first two games of the Cathedral Classic, when he had 13 points, five rebounds and two steals against La Salle on Friday before finishing with four points and a season-high eight rebounds against Merrimack yesterday. While Patterson’s streak of double-digit scoring performances ended at five games yesterday, the eight rebounds were his most since he pulled down nine boards for Iona against Fairfield on Jan. 10.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov remained a solid glue guy during the first two games of the Cathedral Classic, when he had 12 points and four rebounds against La Salle on Friday before finishing with seven points, four assists and two rebounds against Merrimack yesterday. The four assists were the most for Plotnikov since he had four assists in a 114-46 win over Division III St. Joseph’s last Dec. 6 and his most against a Division I foe since he tied a carer-high with five assists in an 87-64 win over Not Twitter Guy on Feb. 24, 2024. Plotnikov has scored t least seven points in six of seven games this season and in 12 of his last 13 games dating back to Feb. 20.
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu had his quietest performances of the season during the first two games of the Cathedral Classic, when he had two points and five rebounds against La Salle Friday before finishing with six points and six rebounds against Merrimack yesterday. The two points Friday were a season-low for Onuetu while the five rebounds were his fewest since he pulled down four boards in the season-opening 82-78 loss to Central Florida on Nov. 3. Onuetu played 15 minutes yesterday, tying the season-low set against Central Florida.
DECADY DANCE
Joshua DeCady continued establishing himself as the Dutchmen’s sixth man during the first two games of the Cathedral Classic, when he had two points and four rebounds over 17 minutes against La Salle Friday before finishing with seven points and three rebounds against Merrimack yesterday. DeCady has played at least 13 minutes in all seven games this season after playing at least 10 minutes eight tis in 25 games last season.
TWO FOR TSYNKEVICH
Welcome to the all-time Hofstra scoring list Alex Tsynkevich, who may have established himself as the third man in the Dutchmen’s center rotation during the first two games of the Cathedral Classic. Tsynkevich, a graduate student, played three scoreless minutes against La Salle on Friday in his first action for the Dutchmen against a Division I foe before he drained a pair of free trows over five minutes against Merrimack yesterday. The points were the first for Tsynkevich at the Division I level since way back on Mar. 2, 2024, when he had one point for Alcorn State against Prairie View A&M. The five minutes were his most extensive playing time since Feb. 19, 2024, when he logged 10 minutes against Florida A&M.
WHERE THERE’S A WILLS THERE’S A WAY
AJ Wills continued serving as the backup point guard to Preston Edmead during the first two games of the Cathedral Classic, when he was scoreless with a rebound and an assist over three minutes against La Salle Friday before going scoreless with one rebound and one steal over nine minutes against Merrimack yesterday. The nine minutes yesterday were the most for Wills since he scored three points in 11 minutes during an 83-77 win over Bucknell on Nov. 14.
CLUB TRILLION FOR REAVES
Graduate student Joshua Aaron Reaves may have begun slipping out of the rotation during the first two games of the Cathedral Classic, Reaves drew his first DNP-CD of the season against La Salle Friday before he didn’t record a stat during two minutes against Merrimack yesterday. Reaves entered Friday having played at least 12 minutes in three of the Dutchmen’s previous four games.
WILLIAMS SEES THE FLOOR…
Redshirt freshman Amir Williams had one rebound in two minutes against Merrimack yesterday. It was the first action against a Division I foe for Williams, who sat out last season as a true freshman.
…AND SO DOES ROBERTS
Freshman Jaeden Roberts also played against a Division I foe for the first time yesterday, when he missed his lone shot, a 3-point attempt, and recored a bock in three minutes against Merrimack. Roberts’ Dad, Roger, redshirted during his freshman season in 1996-97 — which was also the freshman season for Speedy Claxton — but never played for the Dutchmen. So the son of Speedy’s teammate has now played for Speedy as a coach. We are all very old.
OVER THE AIR
Today’s game is slated to be carried live on ESPNPlus, which you have if you have the Disney Bundle, which you have if you have a child under 18. (Alas mine mostly watches Max, Netflix and YouTube, sigh) Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
PENNSYLVANIA AND THE IVY LEAGUE
Pennsylvania, under first-year head coach and basketball alum Fran McCaffery, is 5-2 this season after continuing Cathedral Classic play Friday with a 73-71 win over La Salle.
Pennsylvania was picked to finish seventh in the eight-team Ivy League. Ahh, thank goodness for the never-changing eight-team Ivy League, the only steady constant in a world of conference realignment. Speaking of rare steady constants the Quakers return a whopping nine players from last year’s team. How many players do they return?
Academic senior Ethan Roberts, who is in his second season at Pennsylvania after opening his career with one season at Army and a redshirt season at Drake, leads the Quakers with 20.9 points per game. Junior TJ Power, who opened his career with one season apiece at Duke and Virginia, is averaging 16.4 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game. Senior Michael Zanoni, who began his career with two seasons at Mercer, is averaging 10.6 points per game. The fantastically named Augustus Gerhart ranks second on the Quakers with 7.1 rebounds per game while sophomore AJ Levine leads the team with 3.9 assists per game.
Per KenPom.com, Pennsylvania ranks 144th nationally in offensive efficiency (108.6 points per 100 possessions) and 299th in defensive efficiency (112.8 points per 100 possessions) while ranking 77th in tempo (71.4 possessions per 40 minutes).
The Dutchmen and Quakers have four common opponents this season. Both teams have beaten La Salle and Merrimack in Cathedral Classic play, which makes today a de facto championship game. The Dutchmen are slated to play two CAA games against Drexel, which fell to theQuakers 84-68 on Nov. 21, while Pennsylvania will play two Ivy League games against Columba, which is scheduled to host Hofstra on Wednesday night, Does that make us an honorary Ivy League member? Or at least the Ivy League of Long Island?
The Dutchmen are 1-1 all-time against Pennsylvania. This afternoon;'s game is the first clash between the schools since way back on Dec. 27, 1998, when the Dutchmen won the first tournament title of the Jay Wright Era by edging the Quakers 67-62, in the championship game of the ECAC Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. Pennsylvania rolled to an 83-55 win over the Dutchmen at Nassau Coliseum on Jan. 31, 1996, which is a game I covered for The Chronicle. I’m very old. This also means all three Hofstra-Pennsylvania games have taken place in either tournament or one-off settings. Quirky!
Hofstra is 32-18 all-time against Ivy League schools. Today marks the first time the Dutchmen are opposing an Ivy League foe since Nov. 10, 2023, when they fell to Princeton, 74-67.
At KenPom.com, Hofstra is ranked 145th while Pennsylvania is ranked 207th. KenPom.com predicts a 78-76 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen covered as 5 1/2-point favorites Saturday to improve to 5-1 against the spread this season.
A FAMILIAR FACE
Another quirky bit: Fran McCaffery has faced the Dutchmen more — a lot more — as a head coach than Pennsylvania’s faced the Dutchmen. In fact, today he’ll become just the fifth coach to oppose Hofstra with at least three different schools.
McCaffery was 3-3 against the Dutchmen as Lehigh’s head coach from 1985 through 1988 and 0-2 against the Dutchmen as Siena’s head coach from 2005 through 2010. That series began with the 2006 BracketBuster at Hofstra which a.) might have cost the Dutchmen an NCAA Tournament berth and b.) included something very funny I will reference shortly.
McCaffery joins a select group of frequent Hofstra foes headlined by Rick Pitino, who has opposed the Dutchmen for FOUR different schools — Providence, Louisville, Iona and St. John’s — since 1986 because he’s Rick Pitino. Jim Lynam (Fairfield, American and Saint Joseph’s between the 1969-70 and 1980-81 seasons), Nick Macarchuk (Canisius, Fordham and Stony Brook between the 1977-78 and 1999-2000 seasons) and Jim Baron (St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island and Canisius between the 1992-93 and 2015-16 seasons) also faced the Dutchmen with three different schools.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
The refs threw your wife out of a game at Hofstra bias! (If you were at the Siena game on Feb. 18, 2006, you’ll never forget the sight of Margaret McCaffery UNLOADING on the officials as she was ushered off the premises, good times)
You had eight trustees/alums sign the Constitution bias! (Walks away whistling because there's nothing at all left to say here...)
Bobby Valentine almost got fired at Wharton bias! (A true #IYKYK moment)
The Hooters bias! (Eric Bazillan and Rob Hyman, the founders of the band behind “And We Danced,” went to Pennsylvania)
Flip Flip Flipadelphia bias! (Somehow Dee and Dennis got into Pennsylvania, which allowed the gang to poison the frat kids who made fun of Dennis)
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