Keep It Perky: Syracuse

Live look at every Syracuse fan, so sorry, not sorry.

Two wins over ACC schools in six days. Want to guess how many days it’ll take for the Flying Dutchmen to play their next two games against ACC foes? Even if the ACC keeps expanding and taking everyone this side of Northeastern Illinois, Troy State and Chicago State? #IYKYK

Yup, it’s been a week and we’re still feeling our oats over yet another statement win for the Dutchmen, who squandered a 10-point lead late in the second half yet recovered to stun Syracuse 70-69. It’s going to take until next year for someone to win as many ACC games as the Dutchmen won in six days!

Anyway, as will hopefully remain the norm throughout the season, here’s Keep It Perky, featuring the postgame boilerplate material from the thrilling victory. The individual news and notes from the victory over the Orange (nope, not getting old) and a preview of Quinnipiac and our old pal Tom Pecora will be posted overnight. Enjoy!

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

German Plotnikov hit the biggest shot of his career, a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31.9 seconds left, and the Flying Dutchmen survived a pair of chaotic end-game sequences to notch the statement win. Syracuse never led by more than five while the Dutchmen held a trio of two-point leads in the first half, which ended with Sadiq White Jr. hitting a jumper just before the buzzer to put the Orange ahead 37-36 and spark a 10-2 run that extended the lead to 45-38 with 16:19 left. Cruz Davis scored five straight points to start a 29-12 surge by the Dutchmen, who took their biggest lead at 67-57 on Victory Onuetu’s layup with 4:34 remaining. Syracuse responded with an 11-0 run in which the Dutchmen were 0-for-2 from the field with two turnovers. William Kyle III capped the outburst with a pair of free throws, after which a double-teamed Davis dished along the baseline to a wide-open Plotnikov. Following a timeout, Plotnikov fouled White Jr., but he split the free throws. Biggie Patterson turned the ball over on a five-second violation, after which Onuetu blocked the potential game-winning shot by Kiyan Anthony (yup, Carmelo’s son) with a little more than three seconds left. The Orange committed a pair of fouls before Patterson got the ball in to Preston Edmead, who dribbled out the clock. Davis scored 10 of his game-high 22 points during the big second half run and also collected nine assists along with three rebounds and one block. Edmead had 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point land. Plotnikov scored nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc while Jaeden Roberts continued his emergence as the sixth man with 11 points in just 12 minutes. Onuetu added six points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Syracuse, 12/13)

3: Cruz Davis

2: Preston Edmead

1: German Plotnikov

SEASON STANDINGS

Cruz Davis 28

Preston Edmead 17

Biggie Patterson 9

Victory Onuetu 6

German Plotnikov 5

Silas Sunday 3

Jaeden Roberts 2

Joshua DeCady 2

WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?

No! Which is fine because this wasn’t even a unicorn victory! The Dutchmen’s previous 70-69 win was earned in similarly memorable fashion Feb. 25, 2016, when they overcame an 18-point first half deficit to stun UNC Wilmington. That victory eventually gave the Dutchmen the regular season crown over the Seahawks via tiebreakers. We wont talk about what happened after that. We will talk about this quirkiness: That 70-69 win was the first for the Dutchmen since they beat American on…Feb. 25, 1980, or exactly 36 years earlier! Quirky!

The Dutchmen remain stuck on one unicorn score this season and 61 unicorn score victories since the start of the 2018-19 season, when we first started tracking unicorn scores. 

2025-26: One unicorn score

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?

As you may fondly recall, German Plotnikov delivered the most dramatic Keith Hernandez of the year by hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 31.9 seconds left. That’s the latest in a game a Hofstra player has recorded the Keith Hernandez since Jan. 11, when Jean Aranguren converted the nostalgic 3-point play with 31.1 seconds remaining to give the Dutchmen the lead for good in a 66-63 win over eventual CAA champion UNC Wilmington. So keep your heads up, Syracuse! Maybe you can make the NCAA Tournament this year too!

A fun quirky bit here: Plotnikov’s Keith Hernandez is the second of the season…which makes him the fourth Hofstra player with exactly two Keith Hernandezes this year. Let’s hope someone either emerges as the leader tomorrow or someone notches his first Keith Hernandez!

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)

Biggie Patterson tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Pennsylvania, 11/30/25 (18:03 left 2H)

Cruz Davis tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Pittsburgh, 12/7/25 (8:38 left 1H)

Cruz Davis tie-breaking free throw vs. Old Westbury, 12/10/25 (19:50 left 1H)

German Plotnikov go-ahead 3-pointer vs. Syracuse, 12/13/25 (:31.9 left 2H)

SEASON STANDINGS

German Plotnikov 2

Cruz Davis 2

Biggie Patterson 2

Preston Edmead 2

ALL-TIME STANDINGS (or at least since the 2022-23 season)

Tyler Thomas 16

Darlinstone Dubar 14

German Plotnikov 5

Jean Aranguren 5

Cruz Davis 5

Aaron Estrada 4

Michael Graham 3

Warren Williams 3

Biggie Patterson 2

Preston Edmead 2

Silas Sunday 2

Jacco Fritz 2

Jaquan Carlos 2

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 TWELVE GAMES

The Dutchmen improved to 8-4 with last Saturday’s big win. This ties the 2025-26 team for the 20th-best record in school history through 12 games. This is the second straight season in which the Dutchmen have opened 8-4 and the 14th time overall in program history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 12 games:

NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1975-76: 6-6

1976-77: 9-3

1999-2000: 8-4 

2000-01: 8-4

2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 8-4

NIT TEAMS

1998-99: 8-4

2004-05: 10-2

2005-06: 10-2 (most recent 10-2 start)

2006-07: 8-4

2015-16: 8-4 

2018-19: 9-3 (most recent 9-3 start, marked sixth win in the 16-game winning streak)

2022-23 6-6 (most recent 6-6 start)

NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1958-59: 8-4

1961-62: 11-1

1962-63: 8-4

1963-64: 11-1 (most recent 11-1 start)

Some other notable 12-game starts:

2023-24: 7-5 (most recent 7-5 start)

2013-14: 4-8 (most recent 4-8 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)

2012-13: 3-9 (most recent 3-9 start)

2011-12: 5-7 (most recent 5-7 start)

2002-03: 2-10 (most recent 2-10 start)

1994-95: 2-10 (Jay Wright’s first team)

1993-94: 1-11 (VBK’s last team, most recent 1-11 start)

1959-60: 11-1 (win in 12th game marked first win in season-ending 13-game winning streak)

1955-56: 12-0 (only 12-0 start in school history)

The Dutchmen have never opened a season 0-12.

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-FIVE

With last Saturday’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 89-56 (.614) as head coach. That’s the fourth-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 145 games at the helm.

Butch van Breda Kolff I 108-37 (.745, 145th game was the 19th game of his sixth season in 1960-61) 

Frank Reilly 104-41 (.717, 145th game was the 16th game of his sixth season in 1952-53) 

Paul Lynner 92-53 (.634, 145th game was the 10th game of his sixth season in 1967-68) 

SPEEDY CLAXTON 89-56 (.614, 145th game was the 12th game of his fifth season in 2025-26) 

Joe Mihalich 76-69 (.524, 145th game was the 12th game of his fifth season in 2017-18) 

Tom Pecora 75-70 (.517, 145th game was the 25th game of his sixth season in 2005-06) 

Dick Berg 73-72 (.503, 145th game was the sixth game of his sixth season in 1985-86) 

Roger Gaeckler 72-73 (.497, 145th game was the 13th game of his sixth season in 1977-78) 

Jay Wright 72-73 (.497, 145th game was the 32nd and final game of his fifth season in 1998-99)

Butch van Breda Kolff II 70-75 (.483, 145th game was the fourth game of his sixth season in 1993-94)

The standings remain the same through game no. 145, though Roger Gaeckler slips under .500 for good while Jay Wright falls below the break-even mark as the Dutchmen, sans an injured Speedy Claxton, end the 1998-99 season with a loss to Rutgers in the NIT. Boy I sure hope we get a chance at revenge someday! Possibly season ends with a loss to Rutgers in the NIT. In the meantime, Wright remains a 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.