Who could have imagined there'd only be 11 more of these in a Mets uniform for Pete Alonso? Besides David Stearns, I mean.
With the quirky (!!!) New Year’s week in the rearview mirror, the Flying Dutchmen finally get to settle into the Thursday-Saturday routine today, albeit much earlier than usual, when they will attempt to remain one of the CAA’s three unbeaten teams while visiting Towson for a 12:30 PM start (really).
As will hopefully become the routine once again (sorry again about the hectic last couple weeks), I ran down the boilerplate material from last Saturday’s win over Drexel in last night’s Keep It Perky. Today will be about the individual news and notes from that victory as well as a preview of the Tigers. Enjoy!
TWICE AS NICE
The Dutchmen are 2-0 in CAA play for the first time since 2020-21, when they opened the pandemic-era season by sweeping William & Mary at the Arena, and the ninth time overall. The Dutchmen last opened the CAA season with at least three straight wins in 2018-19, when they raced out to a 9-0 start.
IT’S (almost) ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA (and the rest of Pennsylvania)
What a year to be a fan of the best live-action sitcom in history AND the Flying Dutchmen! With Saturday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 6-1 this season in Pennsylvania with road wins over Bucknell, Pittsburgh and Drexel to go along with neutral site wins over La Salle, Merrimack and Penn at the Cathedral Classic. Hey Temple (an 81-76 winner on Nov. 19), give us a rematch!
If my research is correct, the six wins in Pennsylvania are the most for the Dutchmen in any state outside of New York since at least the start of the Defiantly Dutch era (1993-94) and very likely all-time, since before that Hofstra was based in an East Coast Conference that usually numbered around eight teams in a handful of states. The Dutchmen’s previous high for wins in a state outside of New York was five in Virginia during the 2004-05 season, when they earned road wins over CAA foes James Madison, William & Mary and Old Dominion, a non-league win over Longwood and a “neutral site” CAA Tournament (snort) victory over Drexel.
The Dutchmen are not scheduled to play another regular season game in Pennsylvania. But is this a good time to note that one of the first- and second-round pods is at First Union Center in Philadelphia? Oops, too late.
BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE
Freshman Preston Edmead was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season after scoring 32 points and collecting nine rebounds and five assists in the wins last week over Campbell and Drexel. The five Rookie of the Week honors lead the CAA this season and leave Edmead just one weekly award shy of tying last year’s leader Izaiah Pasha, who went on to win the Rookie of the Year for Delaware.
The five Rookie of the Week honors also tie Edmead for the second-most in Hofstra history with Jamall Robinson, who was a five-time honoree and a member of the CAA’s all-rookie team in 2013-14. Antoine Agudio holds the Hofstra and CAA record with eight Rookie of the Week awards in 2004-05, when he, duh, won the Rookie of the Year.
WE’RE STREAKING!
A game late with this one, but hey the Dutchmen cooperated by winning again! With Saturday’s victory, the Dutchmen extended their winning streak to six games. This is the Dutchmen’s eighth winning streak of five games or longer since the start of the 2018-19 season, which is tied with UNC Wilmington for the second-most amongst CAA schools behind only Charleston, which has nine such streaks — including its current six-game run. UNC Wilmington has won four straight and has a chance to match Charleston tonight, when the Seahawks host Northeastern.
Perhaps as impressively, the Dutchmen have put together at least one five-game winning streak in seven of the last eight seasons — or every year except last year, when they opened with a four-game winning streak and then won four of five from Nov. 29 through Dec. 9, when their only defeat was a 61-59 upset loss to Tarleton State. Perhaps next I’ll look up four-game winning streaks amongst CAA schools!
WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen never trailed Saturday afternoon. It was their second wire-to-wire win of the season and their first since Dec. 10, when they cruised past Division III Old Westbury 92-23.
A NARROW WIRE-TO-WIRE WIN
The Dutchmen, as you no doubt have noticed by now, won Saturday’s game 70-67. That’s their smallest margin of victory in a game in which they never trailed since Jan. 17, 2021, when the Dutchmen edged Delaware 68-67 after Ebby Asamoah’s potential game-winning 3-pointer was hoisted just after the buzzer. Once again, phew to that.
CRUZ-IN
This is getting repetitive, but that’s fine by us. Cruz Davis continued his impressive season Saturday afternoon, when he finished with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists. Davis has scored in double figures in all 15 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 15 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 36 of the 47 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 23-13 when Davis scores in double figures.
TERRIFIC TWENTIES
Cruz Davis scored at least 20 points for the fourth straight game Saturday. That’s the longest such streak by a Hofstra player since Tyler Thomas had four consecutive 20-point efforts from Jan. 27 through Feb. 8, 2024. Davis has scored at least 20 points nine times this season, matching his total from last season.
DAVIS’ TRIPLE CROWN (sorta)
Once again, I wonder if a baseball player still wins the Triple Crown if he ties for the league lead in one (or more) category. I also wonder if anyone cares since batting average has been wrung out of the game by the super geniuses. Anyway, Cruz Davis may or may not have won the Hofstra triple crown Saturday, when he led the Dutchmen with 20 points and five assists while finishing with six rebounds, which was tied for the team lead with Preston Edmead and Victory Onuetu. Davis is the first Hofstra player to lead or share the team lead in those three categories since Jean Aranguren led the Dutchmen with 17 points and eight rebounds while adding four assists — tied for the team lead with Davis — in a 59-56 loss to Stony Brook on Feb. 27.
THE 20/5/5 CLUB
As you may have just read, Cruz Davis finished with 20 points, six rebounds and five assists Saturday. It was the second straight game in which Davis had at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists — he had 22 points, five rebounds and seven assists in the 86-72 win over Campbell on Dec. 29, wow, spanning two years! — and the third time overall this season. Davis is the first Hofstra player with consecutive 20/5/5 games since Justin Wright-Foreman from Jan. 7-11, 2018, when he had 39 points, five rebounds and six assists in an 89-76 loss to Not Twitter Guy and 35 points, five rebounds and six assists in a 76-73 win over Towson. Pretty good company, In addition, Davis’ three 20/5/5 games this year are the most by a Hofstra player in a single season since Tyler Thomas had four such games during the 2023-24 campaign.
PRESTO!
Preston Edmead continued the most impressive freshman season by a Hofstra player this decade Saturday, when he scored 16 points while adding three assists and tying a career-high with six rebounds. Edmead has scored in double figures in 12 games this season, the most double-figure scoring efforts by a Hofstra freshman since Eli Pemberton scored in double figures 21 times in 31 games in 2016-17. Edmead’s 213 points (14.2 ppg) through 15 games are two fewer than Antoine Agudio had through 15 games during his freshman season in 2004-05 and nine fewer than Speedy Claxton had through 15 games during his freshman season in 1996-97. Again, pretty good company.
PRESTON VS. SPEEDY
Speaking of which…Preston Edmead’s first 14 games as a true freshman point guard have been just as impressive as Speedy Claxton’s first 14 games as a true freshman point guard way back in 1996-97.
Speedy Claxton: 14.8 points per game/3.0 assists per game/4.7 rebounds per game
Preston Edmead: 14.2 ppg/4.5 apg/2.0 rpg
Pretty quirky and neat!
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!
Silas Sunday pulled a Christian Laettner (minus everybody hating him) Saturday, when he scored eight points while enjoying a perfect game from the field (3-for-3) and free throw line (2-for-2) and adding five rebounds over 15 minutes. Sunday is the first Hofstra player to have a perfect game from the field (minimum three attempts) and free throw line (minimum two attempts) since Michael Graham also had eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the line in a 68-62 loss to Monmouth last Feb. 20. The perfect shooting game was the second straight for Sunday, who was 4-for-4 against Campbell on Dec. 29 and has actually made his last eight shots dating back to the 74-66 win over Quinnipiac on Dec. 21. Wow! Spanning two years! Sunday has enjoyed six perfect games from the field (minimum three attempts) over the last three seasons He has also scored in all 15 games this season, five more than his previous career-long streak set from last Jan. 9 through Feb. 8.
WHERE THERE’S A WILLS THERE’S A WAY
AJ Wills came up with a much-needed clutch performance Saturday, when he had five points while playing the final 10:32 — his first action since he played 17 minutes in the 92-23 win over Division III Old Westbury on Dec. 10 and his first action against a Division I team since he logged 11 scoreless minutes against Columbia on Dec. 3. Wills drained a 3-pointer to extend the Dutchmen’s lead to 52-44 with 9:41 left before playing the final 6:51 at point guard after Preston Edmead fouled out. Wills, who entered Saturday 0-for-1 from the line this season, accounted for the game’s final points by draining two free throws with 14 seconds left to end Drexel’s 9-0 run. The converted free throws were the first for Wills since Feb. 18, when he was 7-of-10 from the line for Wyoming against Air Force. Pretty solid work for his first real action in more than a month.
GERMAN FOR STARTERS
German Plotnikov continued his solid glue guy work Saturday, when he had eight points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal over 32 minutes. Plotnikov continued his penchant for clutch late baskets by converting a nostalgic 3-point play with 6:29 left in the game before draining the Dutchmen’s final field goal with 1:51 remaining. He scored at least eight points in 11 of 15 games this season after doing so just 10 times in 31 games last season.
VICTORY!
Junior newcomer Victory Onuetu continued to offer intrigue Saturday, when he finished with six points, six rebounds and two blocks over 22 minutes, Onuetu has collected at least six points and six rebounds in each of the last two games and nine times in 15 games overall this season. He has also recorded at least two blocks in seven games.
BANGED-UP BIGGIE
Senior Biggie Patterson, battling what looked to be a knee injury, played a season-low 10 minutes Saturday, when he finished with five points and four rebounds. Patterson collided with Jaeden Roberts underneath the basket with 10:19 left in the first half and needed assistance getting off the court. He returned to play the final 2:20 of the half and then played a little under three minutes in the second half before exiting for good with 13:04 remaining. Patterson is averaging 7.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in six games as a reserve — all wins for the Dutchmen — after averaging 10.3 points and 5.1 rebounds over the first nine games, all as a starter.
JAEDEN JUMPS INTO ACTION
Freshman Jaeden Roberts continued to establish himself as a key bench player Saturday, when he had two points and one steal in 11 minutes. Roberts has 51 points while averaging 12.7 minutes per game over the last six games — all Hofstra wins — after scoring just five points in three appearances spanning 11 minutes over the first nine games of the season.
DECADY DROUGHT
Joshua DeCady endured a rough afternoon Saturday, when he was scoreless while going 0-for-7 from the field — 0-for-3 from 3-point land and 0-for-4 from inside the arc. The seven field goal attempts without a make were the most for a Hofstra player since Cruz Davis went 0-for-9 in a 61-59 loss to Tarleton State on Nov. 30, 2024. Davis finished that game 5-for-6 from the free throw line. The last Hofstra player to finish scoreless while missing at least seven field goal attempts was Jaquan Carlos, who was 0-for-9 from the field without attempting a free throw in a 68-65 win over Stony Brook on Feb. 18, 2023.
OVER THE AIR
This afternoon’s game (yes, once again, this game is being played at 12:30 PM) is slated to be carried live on YouTube as the CAA game of the week as well as on FloHoops.com (subscription required, click here for options). You should probably watch the free stream. Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING TOWSON
The Tigers, under 15th-year head coach Pat Skerry, are 8-8 this season and 0-3 in CAA play following a 62-48 loss to Monmouth last Saturday. The 0-3 start is the first for Towson since 2019-20, when the Tigers recovered to finish 12-6 and earn the no. 3 seed in the CAA Tournament before falling to Northeastern in the quarterfinals.
The Dutchmen and Tigers had one common opponents during non-league play. The Dutchmen opened their season Nov. 3 with an 82-78 loss to Central Florida, which beat Towson 86-61 on Dec. 7.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish tied for eighth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked a CAA-best 102nd at KenPom.com. That’s 60 spots higher than they were to open the season but one spot lower than they were entering Saturday and three spots lower than Tuesday, for some reason. #FuzzyMath The Tigers, who were picked to finish first, are ranked a season-low 173rd — 31 spots lower than their preseason ranking but also 53 spots lower than their season-high entering a game against UC San Diego on Nov. 26 as well as a whopping 26 spots lower than their ranking prior to Saturday’s loss.
According to KenPom.com, the Dutchmen rank second in the CAA in offensive efficiency (112.8 points per 100 possessions) and fourth in defensive efficiency (105.8 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 66.1 possessions per 40 minutes, the 10th-most in the league. The Tigers rank eighth in the CAA in offensive efficiency (104.2 points per 100 possessions) and second in defensive efficiency (105.3 points per 100 possessions) while averaging 63.1 possessions per 40 minutes, the fewest in the league as well as the fourth-fewest in the country. FOUR CORNERS BIAS?
The Tigers return five players from last year’s team, including Tyler Tejada — the reigning CAA Player of the Year and preseason player of the year — as well as Dylan Williamson, who joined Tejada on the preseason all-CAA first team. Tejada, a true junior who has spent his entire career at Towson, leads the Tigers with 16.5 points per game, is tied for the rebounding lead at 5.9 rebounds per game and is second with 2.2 assists. Williamson, a redshirt junior who has also played his entire career for Towson, is averaging 14.8 points and a team-high 3.3 assists per game. Graduate student Jack Doumbia Jr., who played one season apiece at Cloud County Community College and Tallahassee Community College before spending two years at Norfolk State and one year at Wright State, is third on the Tigers with 10.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. True sophomore Caleb Embeya, another returnee, shares the rebounding lead with Tejada at 5.9 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts an 67-64 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 1 1/2-point underdogs. Interesting. The Dutchmen are 10-3 against the spread this season after the streak of covers ended at four last Saturday.
NICE TO ECC YOU
The Dutchmen will play an East Coast Conference foe (hi Litos) for the second straight game. Alas, Drexel and Towson are the only other ECC teams left in the CAA after Delaware departed for Conference USA and the opportunity to play in something called the 68 Ventures Bowl. What, 67 and 69 were taken? Anyway, this marks the second straight season the Dutchmen have played at least two straight games against ECC rivals. They faced Towson, Drexel and Delaware last year from Jan. 16-23. The remaining three ECC teams play each other twice apiece this season, so at least there’s a real round-robin to determine this very real champion.
ALL-TIME VS. TOWSON
Hofstra is 48-31 against Towson in a series that began during the 1982-83 season, when both schools were in the East Coast Conference. The Tigers won the lone meeting between the teams last season last Jan. 16, when they overcame an 18-point first half deficit to earn a 60-55 victory. That was the first of four CAA losses in which the Dutchmen squandered a double-digit lead.
Hofstra and Towson opposed one another in the ECC and the North Atlantic Conference/America East before moving together to the CAA for the 2001-02 school year. Hofstra has faced only two opponents as often as it’s faced Towson: Fellow longtime ECC/NAC/A-East/CAA rival Drexel as well as Delaware. Sigh.
Last year marked just the third time since 1982-83 that Hofstra and Towson were in the same conference but played each other just once in the regular season. The teams also played once apiece due to the unbalanced schedule in 2011-12 and 2023-24. The Dutchmen are slated to host the Tigers on Feb. 7, so at least some justice is returning to the world.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER (OR BLUESKY) IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Pete Alonso bias! (Why can’t the Mets get guys like new Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso? Oh right)
Chris Nabholz bias! (The Towson grad pitched for four big league teams, including the great Montreal Expos, and just turned 59, so he’s probably willing to sign a team-friendly contract with the Mets)
That Nick Johnson holding penalty to negate the go-ahead touchdown against Towson State in 1994 was BS bias! (Ended the Dutchmen’s hopes of an unbeaten season and probably tanked their playoff hopes too, we have long memories here)
It’s too early for this bias! (Seriously, why is this being played at 12:30 PM?)
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