Keep It Perky: ELO

Now we can make Mr. Blue Sky and Xanadu references while not calling that school by its now-toxic name! So we have that going for us.

Well, at least we came up with a shorter nickname for school-whose-name-is-now-toxic than Not Twitter Guy. The Flying Dutchmen’s annual January fade is here after they didn’t hold a lead over the final 26-plus minutes in an 89-85 loss to ELO (so much better than Not Twitter Guy).

As will hopefully remain the case for the rest of the season all the way through the NCAA Tournament — yup, almost five days later, I still believe — here’s the Keep It Perky featuring the usual postgame boilerplate material. The individual news and notes from the loss to the Phoenix and a preview of North Carolina A&T will be posted tomorrow. Enjoy!

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Cruz Davis had one of the great halves in memory by scoring 28 of his game-high 33 points after intermission, but the Dutchmen could never get over the hump against ELO. The Dutchmen looked like they might be primed to run away from the Phoenix during a game-opening 8-1 run, but ELO answered with a 16-6 surge. The Dutchmen took their final two leads at 22-21 and 25-24 on 3-pointers by Davis and Joshua DeCady (a career-high 21 points), after which the Phoenix ended the half with a 19-10 run in which they were a robust 8-of-10 from the field. Davis scored 10 points during a 13-5 run and hit the 3-pointer that tied the game for the final time at 52-52 with 14:52 left. ELO scored on seven of its next eight possessions to take its final eight-point lad at 71-63 with 9:04 left. The Dutchmen got within a possession five times down the stretch, but Jaeden Roberts turned the ball over on a fast break with a chance to cut into a 74-71 lead with 4:32 remaining, Preston Edmead missed the front end of one-and-one with the Dutchmen down 76-73 with 3:51 to go and Davis missed a potential game-tying jumper with 1:50 left. ELO iced the win by going 7-of-8 from the free throw line the rest of the way. DeCady bounced back from a rough game against Stony Brook by having the bet game of his career from 3-point land (4-of-8) and free throw line (7-of-10). Silas Sunday, who played 31 minutes with Victory Onuetu fouling out in fewer than fivec minutes, had eight points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Edmead’s streak of seven straight double-digit scoring efforts ended when he finished with nine points while adding four assists, which was tied with Davis for the team lead. German Plotnikov added six points.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. ELO, 1/17)

3: Cruz Davis

2: Joshua DeCady

1: Silas Sunday

SEASON STANDINGS

Cruz Davis 46

Preston Edmead 30

Biggie Patterson 9

German Plotnikov 7

Victory Onuetu 6

Joshua DeCady 6

Silas Sunday 6

A.J. Wills 2

Jaeden Roberts 2

THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER NINETEEN GAMES

The Dutchmen fell to 13-6 with Saturday afternoon’s loss. This ties the 2025-26 team for the 18th-best record in school history through 19 games. This is the first time the Dutchmen have opened 13-6 since 2015-16 and the 10th time overall in program history. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 19 games:

NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1975-76: 10-9

1976-77: 14-5

1999-2000: 14-5

2000-01: 15-4 (marked seventh win in program-record 18-game winning streak)

2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 14-5 (most recent 14-5 start)

NIT TEAMS

1998-99: 13-6

2004-05: 13-6

2005-06: 15-4 (most recent 15-4 start)

2006-07: 14-5

2015-16: 13-6

2018-19: 16-3 (most recent 16-3 start, win in 19th game marked 13th win in the 16-game winning streak)

2022-23: 12-7 (most recent 12-7 start)

NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1958-59: 14-5

1961-62: 17-2 (most recent 17-2 start)

1962-63: 13-6

1963-64: 16-3

Some other notable 19-game records:

2024-25: 10-9 (most recent 10-9 start)

2016-17: 9-10 (most recent 9-10 start, under .500 for good; loss in 19th game marked fifth loss of Mihalich-era record six-game losing streak)

2013-14: 7-12 (most recent 7-12 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)

2012-13: 5-14 (most recent 5-14 start)

2011-12: 6-13 (most recent 6-13 start)

2003-04: 8-11 (most recent 8-11 start)

1995-96: 7-12 (loss in 19th game marked fifth loss of Wright-era record nine-game losing streak)

1994-95: 5-14 (win in 19th game marked second win of three-game winning streak, the first streak in Wright’s first year)

1997-98: 11-8 (most recent 11-8 start)

1993-94: 3-16 (only 3-16 start, 84-76 win over Central Connecticut in 19th game was lone regular season ECC win and also the first game I ever covered, VBK’s last team)

1987-88: 4-15 (only 4-15 start, loss in 19th game was ninth loss of program-record 12-game losing streak)

1985-96: 10-9 (over .500 for good)

1964-65: 9-10 (under .500 for good)

1960-61: 17-2 (first 17-2 start)

1959-60: 18-1 (most recent 18-1 start & Hofstra’s winningest team, percentage-wise; win in 19th game was eighth win of season-ending 13-game winning streak)

1956-57: 9-10 (under .500 for good)

1955-56: 18-1 (VBK’s first year, first 18-1 start)

1947-48: 13-6 (won season finale)

1945-46: 12-7 (won season finale)

1943-44: 7-12 (won season finale)

Hofstra has never been 19-0, 2-17, 1-18 or 0-19 through 19 games. 

Three seasons were completed in fewer than 19 games:

1936-37: 10-7

1937-38: 10-4

1938-39: 10-8

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 FIFTY-TWO

With Saturday’s loss, Speedy Claxton fell to 94-58 (.618) as head coach. That’s tied for the third-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 152 games at the helm.

Butch van Breda Kolff I 113-39 (.743, 152nd game was the first game of his seventh season in 1960-61) 

Frank Reilly 110-42 (.724, 152nd game was the 23rd game of his sixth season in 1952-53) 

Paul Lynner 95-57 (.625, 152nd game was the 17th game of his sixth season in 1967-68) 

SPEEDY CLAXTON 94-58 (.618, 152nd game was the 19th game of his fifth season in 2025-26) 

Tom Pecora 81-71 (.533, 152nd game was the 32nd game of his sixth season in 2005-06) 

Joe Mihalich 81-71 (.533, 152nd game was the 19th game of his fifth season in 2017-18) 

Dick Berg 76-76 (.500, 152nd game was the 13th game of his sixth season in 1985-86) 

Jay Wright 75-77 (.493, 152nd game was the seventh game of his fifth season in 1998-99) 

Roger Gaeckler 73-79 (.480, 152nd game was the 20th game of his sixth season in 1977-78) 

Butch van Breda Kolff II 71-81 (.467, 151st game was the 11th game of his sixth season in 1993-94) 

Butch van Breda Kolff begins the seventh and final season of his first stint at Hofstra with a win in game in no, 152, which is cool and quirky because now BOTH of his final seasons are represented in the standings. Paul Lynner breaks a tie with Speedy Claxton with a win in his 152nd game while Tom Pecora’s 152nd game at the helm is one of the most memorable in school history — the 77-75 overtime win over Saint Joseph’s that lifted the generational 2005-06 Dutchmen into the NIT quarterfinals. We’re heading to Madison Square Garden! Right?

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.