Let's hope the Flying Dutchmen can fare well playing outside of.......PENNSYLVANIA.
Hofstra has begun offering classes in Los Angeles. So building an arena for the Flying Dutchmen to play basketball games in Pennsylvania should be easy peasy, right?
The Dutchmen concluded their wildly successful tour of Pennsylvania Sunday, when Cruz Davis scored a career-high 36 points in an 80-73 upset of Pittsburgh. Beating major conference schools, just doing what we do when we do what we do.
Anyway, as will hopefully remain the routine following all games this year (not just CAA clashes), I ran down the boilerplate material from Sunday’s big win in last night’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from the victory over the Panthers as well as a preview of…the Panthers of Old Westbury. Think anyone else in the nation is playing consecutive games against schools with the same nickname but playing in different divisions? Enjoy!
WE’VE GOT THE POWER
With Sunday’s win, the Dutchmen became the first CAA team this season to beat a power conference foe and the first CAA team to beat a power conference foe since Monmouth defeated Seton Hall 63-51 on Nov. 30, 2024. The victory was also the Dutchmen’s sixth against a power conference opponent over the last 11 seasons — a span in which no other CAA team has more than two wins over power conference foes.
HOFSTRA 6 (Florida State 11/20/15, UCLA 11/21/19, Arkansas 12/18/21, Rutgers 3/14/23***, Seton Hall 11/13/24, Pittsburgh 12/7/25)
Charleston 2 (Providence 11/29/19, Virginia Tech 11/20/22)
Monmouth 2 (West Virginia 11/10/23, Seton Hall 11/30/24)
Northeastern 2 (UConn 11/14/16, Alabama 11/15/18)
Drexel 1 (Villanova 12/2/23)
Not Twitter Guy 1 (Notre Dame 11/22/24)
UNC Wilmington 1 (Kentucky 12/2/23)
William & Mary 1 (North Carolina State 11/13/15)
Campbell 0
Delaware 0
Hampton 0
James Madison 0
North Carolina A&T 0
Towson 0
***NIT
These figures only count wins achieved WHILE the school was a member of the CAA. So Monmouth’s wins over UCLA, Drexel and Southern Cal during the 2015-16 season aren’t counted here because the Hawks were a member of the MAAC back then. But we can take this opportunity to declare, once again, how screwed they got by the idiots on the selection committee who decided they weren’t worthy of an at-large bid.
BURYING THEM WITH A BIG LEAD
Sorta journalistic headline! The Dutchmen held a pair of 17-point leads over Pittsburgh on Sunday. I believe that’s the biggest lead the Dutchmen have held against a power conference foe since way back on Dec. 29, 2006, when they led St. John’s by 17 points in a 63-51 victory in the Holiday Festival championship game. I say I believe because the play-by-play of that game is missing from the Hofstra athletics website but the St. John’s recap mentions a late run by Hofstra that apparently ran their lead to 17 points. If that for some reason wasn’t accurate, the Dutchmen definitely led Nebraska by 18 points in a 73-62 win in an NIT game on Mar. 16, 2006.
IT’S ALMOST ALWAYS SUNNY IN PENNSYLVANIA
With Sunday’s upset win over Pittsburgh, the Dutchmen completed their quirky stretch of six out of seven (that sound you hear is Molly and her best friend cackling) games in Pennsylvania with a robust 5-1 record. How impressive is that? Only four of the 15 Pennsylvania-based Division I schools have more than five wins in the Keystone State this season!
Penn State 7
Villanova 7
Duquesne 6
Penn 6
HOFSTRA 5
Pitt 5
Robert Morris 5
Saint Joseph’s 5
La Salle 4
Temple 4
Drexel 3
Lafayette 3
Lehigh 2
Mercyhurst 3
Saint Francis 2
Bucknell 1
Pretty quirky! The Dutchmen will get one more chance to add to their Pennsylvania win total when they visit Drexel on Jan. 3. Unless of course the administration listens to me and opens an arena in Pennsylvania where the Dutchmen will play all their home games.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE (part one)
Cruz Davis earned an impressive honor Tuesday, when he was one of five players to receive the Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week along with Duke’s Cameron Boozer, Xavier’s Tre Carroll, UC Santa Barbara’s Aidan Mahaney and Iowa State’s Milan Momcilivic. Davis, who collected 60 points and nine assists in games against Columbia and Pittsburgh, is just the third Hofstra player to be selected amongst the Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week. Justin Wright-Foreman earned the honors for the week ending Dec. 30, 2018 before Tyler Thomas did so for the week ending Nov. 26, 2023.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE (part two)
Not surprisingly, Cruz Davis was also named the CAA Player of the Week. Davis’ honor is the second of his career — he also earned the award for the week ending Dec. 3, 2024 — and extends an impressive streak for Hofstra, which has now had at least one player earn Player of the Week honors in each of the last 23 seasons dating back to 2003-03, which is easily the longest active streak in the CAA.
Another way to put that is that a Hofstra player has earned Player of the Week honors in every single season the school’s been in the CAA EXCEPT 2002-03. And yet ANOTHER way to put that: Even the 2012-13 team had an honoree (alas, he is one of The Those Who Shall Not Be Named).
A whopping 28 Hofstra players — that’s almost six starting lineups! — have combined to earn 86 Player of the Week awards dating back to the school’s first season in the CAA in 2001-02. That’s by far the most players to earn a Player of the Week award and the most Player of the Week awards earned by any CAA school in that span. Delaware ranks second in both categories, but their 26 honorees have combined for 48 awards — barely half that of Hofstra. Devon Saddler is the most-honored Delaware player with six Player of the Week awards, a total matched or exceeded by five Dutchmen: Justin Wright-Foreman (12), Charles Jenkins (10), Loren Stokes (9), Aaron Estrada (8) and Juan’ya Green (6).
CRUZ JOINS ANOTHER CLUB
As you may have surmised by now, Cruz Davis scored a career-high 36 points in Sunday’s win. It was the first 30-point game for Davis, who is the 25th Hofstra player since the 1988-89 season — which is as far back as my game logs go at home — to score at least 30 points in a game and the sixth to do so under Speedy Claxton. He is also the 14th player since the 1988-89 season to score 35 points in a game. Davis’ 36 points Sunday were the most by a Hofstra player since Tyler Thomas scored a career-high 40 points in a 97-92 overtime win over High Point on Nov. 22, 2023. That was the effort that earned Thomas one of the Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week award.
DAVIS DISHING DIMES TOO
So close to alliteration! Cruz Davis added seven assists to go along with his career-high 36 points Sunday afternoon. That’s the most assists by a Hofstra player who scored at least 35 points since way back on Feb 28, 2009, when Charles Jenkins had 35 points and eight assists in an 88-81 overtime win over UNC Wilmington. Pretty good company.
CRUZ-IN
Again, as you may have surmised by now, Cruz Davis continued his impressive season Sunday by finishing with 36 points and seven assists. Davis has scored in double figures in all 10 games this season, the longest streak by a Hofstra player since Jean Aranguren scored in double figures in 15 straight games from Dec. 9, 2024 through Feb. 8, 2025. The 10 straight double-figure scoring efforts are a career-high for Davis, who previously scored in double figures in eight straight games from Jan. 20 through Feb. 13. Davis has scored in double figures in 31 of the 42 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 18-13 when Davis scores in double figures.
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu continued to offer intrigue Sunday, when he bounced back from a scoreless game against Columbia by scoring 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting and adding four rebounds and one steal in 24 minutes. Onuetu is the first Hofstra player to enjoy a perfect night from the floor (minimum five attempts) since Silas Sunday also scored 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting in a 68-62 loss to Monmouth on Feb. 20. The double-digit scoring effort was the second in the last six games for Onuetu, who scored at least 10 points in three straight games from Nov. 7-14.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov scored all eight of his points in the second half Sunday, when his three baskets — two 3-pointers and a traditional field goal — helped the Dutchmen stave off Pittsburgh’s comeback. Plotnikov, who also tied a season-high with five reboudns for the second straight game, has scored at least eight points in eight of the Dutchmen’s first 10 games after collecting at least eight points 10 times in 31 games last season.
PRESTO!
Freshman Preston Edmead once again recovered from a slow start with a strong second half Sunday, when he scored six of his eight points after halftime. In a truly quirky, err, quirk, he scored all his points from the free throw line by going 8-of-9 from the charity stripe. He’s the 12th Division I player this season to score at least eight points, all from the free throw line, and the first Hofstra player to score at least eight points, all from the free throw line, since at least the 2002-03 season, which is as far back as my box scores go at home. Edmead has scored in double figures in eight of his first 10 games. His 143 points (14.3 ppg) through 10 games are seven fewer than Antoine Agudio during his freshman season in 2004-05 and six more than Speedy Claxton during his freshman season in 1996-97. Pretty good company.
PRESTON VS. SPEEDY
Speaking of which…Preston Edmead’s first 10 games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first 1- games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 13.7 points per game/2.2 assists per game/4.5 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 14.3 ppg/5.2 apg/1.7 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
BIGGIE OFF THE BENCH
Biggie Patterson came off the bench for the first time Sunday, when he finished with five points and five rebounds in 25 minutes. Patterson has scored five points or fewer in three of the last four games after scoring in double figures five straight times from Nov. 7-28. The five-rebound game Sunday marked the sixth time Patterson has recorded at least five rebounds in 10 games this season.
JAEDEN JUMPS INTO ACTION
Freshman Jaeden Roberts was a surprise contributor Sunday, when he saw rotation minutes for the first time and scored a career-high seven points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field over seven minutes. Roberts, whose previous playing time was limited to the final minutes of lopsided wins over Molloy, Merrimack and Pennsylvania, scored consecutive baskets during the Dutchmen’s decisive 16-4 first-half run before adding a pair of late free throws. 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.
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday continued his impressive stretch on, err, Sunday, when he had six points, three rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes off the bench. The six points were the most for Sunday since he scored a career-high 15 points against Merrimack on Nov. 29 while the two assists tie a career-high set nine times previously, including four previous times this season. Sunday has scored in all 1 games this season, which ties his career-high streak set from Jan. 9 through Feb. 8.
DECADY DANCE
Joshua DeCady made his first career start Sunday, when he replaced Biggie Patterson and was scoreless on 0-of-3 shooting with two rebounds and one steal over 17 minutes. The scoreless effort was the second of the season for DeCady, who didn’t attempt a field goal against Bucknell on Nov. 14. DeCady scored in 14 of the 25 games in which he played last season.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game is slated to be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required, click here for options) as well as on MSG Networks if you are in the New York area and/or somehow paid one billion dollars (approx) for the Gotham Sports app. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
OLD WESTBURY AND HOFSTRA VS. NON-DIVISION I FOES
Old Westbury (which some of you might know as SUNY College at Old Westbury or just SUNY Old Westbury) is a Division III school located in, well, Old Westbury. The Panthers, under 24th-season head coach and Hofstra alum Bernard Tomlin, were picked to finish 10th in the Skyline Conference and are 1-7 this season following Saturday’s 72-57 loss to Connecticut College.
Tomlin is a 1976 graduate who played under the late Roger Gaeckler and capped his career by leading the Flying Dutchmen (who really were the Flying Dutchmen back then!) to their first NCAA Tournament as a Division I program. Tomlin also coached Stony Brook from the 1991-92 through 1998-99 seasons, back during Stony Brook’s Division II and Division III days, and was among the finalists for the Hofstra job following the 1993-94 season, when some guy named Jay Wright emerged from the pack.
Sophomore Joel Ofori leads Old Westbury with 16.5 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Freshman Imole Akinwale is averaging 12.7 points per game while freshman Jermaine King Jr. is averaging 10.4 points per game with a team-leading 4.4 assists per game. Senior Bradley Young ranks second on the Panthers with 5.4 rebounds per game.
The Flying Dutchmen have won their last 27 games against non-Division I foes dating back to a 70-54 loss to Florida Southern during the 1988-89 season. This marks the 10th time in the last 11 seasons the Dutchmen have played at least one non-Division I foe. There were no non-Division I games in 2020-21 due to the pandemic.
There is no line on this game, because even degenerate gamblers do not bet on Division I vs. non-Division I games. The Dutchmen are 7-2 against the spread this season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
You’re not that much older than Westbury bias! (Per Wikipedia, which is never wrong, Old Westbury was incorporated in 1924, eight years before Westbury, bet you never thought you’d be reading about this here)
Old-school Flying Dutchman bias! (Duh)
You played my sister’s alma mater this year bias! (She went to Westfield State College, which beat Old Westbury 97-65 on Nov, 14, and I am SURE she knows about this)
This really shouldn’t be that hard bias! (As always and please, for the love of all that is holy)
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