The Flying Dutchmen began the #CAAHoops schedule ended 2016 on an upbeat note by surviving quite a scare from Delaware and escaping New-ARK with a 58-56 win Saturday afternoon. The Dutchmen will attempt to keep the dream of a perfect CAA season alive this afternoon, when Joe Mihalich-era rival William & Mary visits the Arena. Here’s a quick look back at the Delaware game and a look ahead to the Pantsless Griffs.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
The undermanned Dutchmen blew all of a 12-point second half lead, but Justin Wright-Foreman’s two free throws with 38 seconds left snapped a tie and Delaware missed three shots to tie or take the lead, including a half-courter as time expired (Frantz Massenat flashbacks). Ty Greer had perhaps his best game in a Hofstra uniform as he scored a team-high 17 points while adding seven rebounds, two steals and committing just one turnover. Wright-Foreman scored 15 points, including 12 in the second half, while Eli Pemberton added 11 points. Rokas Gustys was limited to 24 minutes due to foul trouble and scored just one point while collecting 11 rebounds. Brian Bernardi did not play due to illness.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Delaware 12/31)
3: Ty Greer
2: Justin Wright-Foreman
1: Eli Pemberton
SEASON STANDINGS
Eli Pemberton 17
Justin Wright-Foreman 16
Rokas Gustys 15
Deron Powers 14
Brian Bernardi 11
Ty Greer 8
Jamall Robinson 3
A RARE SUB-60 WIN
The Dutchmen won a game in which they scored fewer than 60 points for the first time under Joe Mihalich. The 58 points were the fewest by the Dutchmen since a 59-53 loss to James Madison on Feb. 10, 2014 and the fewest in a victory since a 52-50 win over Georgia State in the CAA opener on Jan, 7, 2013.
In addition, the narrow win marked the first time a Mihalich-coached team has scored fewer than 60 points in a victory since Feb. 15, 2013, when Niagara edged Rider, 57-54. Mihalich-coached teams are now 9-45 when scoring fewer than 60 points.
12/31/16: Hofstra 58, Delaware 56
2/15/13: Niagara 57, Rider 54
2/24/12: Niagara 59, St. Peter’s 56
2/9/12: Niagara 58, Siena 54
11/23/11: Niagara 59, Sam Houston State 52
2/11/11: Niagara 59, Loyola (MD) 57
2/12/09: Niagara 57, Canisius 41
12/29/07: Niagara 56, Santa Clara 53
1/12/99: Niagara 51, Manhattan 49
DUTCH WIN WITH A STOPPED ROK
The Dutchmen won despite a quiet performance from Rokas Gustys, who scored one point and recorded 11 rebounds while playing just 24 minutes due to foul trouble. The Dutchmen have won their last four games in which Gustys scored fewer than 10 points. Gustys scored four points in an 88-80 win over Florida Atlantic on Dec. 3, six points in an 88-86 win over Columbia on Nov. 29 and eight points in an 89-56 win over Medaille on Nov. 25.
BERNARDI’S IRON MAN STREAK ENDS
Senior guard Brian Bernardi was in uniform but did not play due to illness. He had played in — and started — each of his first 80 games in a Hofstra uniform. It was the longest streak of consecutive games played by a Dutchmen since Moussa Kone played in the first 98 games of his career between 2011 and 2014. The Dutchmen’s current “Ironman” is Rokas Gustys, who has played in 69 straight games.
OPENING AGAINST DELAWARE
The Dutchmen beat Delaware in the CAA opener for the second straight season. Overall in CAA openers, the Dutchmen are 10-6 with wins in each of the last three seasons and in four of the last five.
The Dutchmen will be looking to start 2-0 for the third straight season and for the seventh time since joining the CAA in the 2001-02 season.
OVER THE AIR
Hofstra will provide both a video and radio feed of today’s game at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING WILLIAM & MARY
The Tribe, under 14th-season head coach Tony Shaver, is 6-6 this season, though two of its wins came against non-Division I foes. William & Mary lost its CAA opener Saturday, when it fell to Northeastern, 84-64, in Boston.
The Dutchmen and Tribe had no common foes during non-league play.
The Dutchmen, who were picked sixth in the CAA preseason poll, enter today ranked 146th at KenPom.com. The Tribe, which was picked third, is ranked 144th.
The Dutchmen rank third among CAA teams in scoring (79.2 ppg) but are allowing 75.5 ppg, the most in the league. The Tribe rank second in scoring (79.6 ppg) and are allowing 73.1 ppg, the fourth-highest total in the CAA.
The Dutchmen rank seventh in the CAA in field goal percentage (44%) and first in 3-point field goal percentage (39%) They are allowing opposing teams to shoot 43.7 percent overall, seventh in the league, and 36.5 percent from beyond the arc, which is ninth.
The Tribe rank third in the CAA in both field goal percentage (46.1%) and 3-point field goal percentage (36.1%). They are fourth in both field goal percentage defense (42.2%) and 3-point field goal percentage defense (31.9%).
ALL-TIME VS. WILLIAM & MARY
Hofstra is 17-11 against William & Mary. The Dutchmen went 3-0 against the Tribe last season with a 91-63 win in Hempstead on Jan. 24, an 86-80 win in Williamsburg on Feb. 7 and a 70-67 victory in the CAA semifinals in Baltimore on Mar. 6. The latter win provided a bit of redemption for the Dutchmen, who fell to William & Mary, 92-91, in a classic CAA semifinal in 2015.
REPLACING THE MISSING SCORING—AND THEN SOME
The Dutchmen lost a whopping 50.3 ppg from last year’s squad via the graduations of Juan’ya Green (17.8 ppg), Ameen Tanksley 15.9 ppg), Denton Koon (11.4 ppg) and Malik Nichols (5.2 ppg). But they have “found” 55.4 ppg this season via five players who didn’t play for the team last season plus the emergence of sophomore Justin Wright-Foreman.
Eli Pemberton (14.2)
Deron Powers (13.3)
Justin Wright-Foreman (9.9)***
Ty Greer (9.8)
Jamall Robinson (5.3)
Hunter Sabety (2.9)
***The Wright-Foreman average subtracts the 1.2 ppg he averaged last season to better account for the "found" points.
WRIGHT-FOREMAN IS THE FINISHER
Sophomore guard Justin Wright-Foreman continued to thrive in the second half Saturday, when he scored 12 of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes. Of his 155 points this season, 113 have been scored in the second half.
PEMBERTON HITS THE TOP 10
Eli Pemberton, who was the first Hofstra freshman since Antoine Agudio (2004-05) to open his career by scoring in double digits in his first five games, is already the 19th Dutchmen freshman in the CAA era to score at least 100 points in his debut season. He moved past Nathaniel Lester into ninth place on the CAA-era freshman scoring list on Saturday.
1.) Antoine Agudio, 452 (2004-05)
2.) Charles Jenkins, 436 (2007-08)
3.) Kenny Adeleke, 433 (2001-02)
4.) Loren Stokes, 374 (2003-04)
5.) Chaz Williams, 325 (2009-10)
6.) Jamall Robinson, 312 (2013-14)
7.) Halil Kanacevic, 294 (2009-10)
8.) Carlos Rivera, 226 (2003-04)
9.) ELI PEMBERTON, 199 (2016-17)
10.) Nathaniel Lester, 189 (2007-08)
SOPHOMORE SURGE
After scoring just 44 points as a freshman, Justin Wright-Foreman has emerged as one of the Dutchmen’s top scorers this season. He was the 27th Hofstra freshman in the CAA era to score fewer than 100 points but already has more points as a sophomore than all but four of his predecessors. Wright-Foreman needs just four points to surpass Gibran Washington’s sophomore season total and 17 to surge past Greg Washington’s sophomore season tally.
David Imes 251 points 2010-11 (25 as a freshman)
Ziggy Sestokas 219 points 2006-07 (29 as a freshman)
Greg Washington 169 points 2008-09 (33 as a freshman)
Gibran Washington 158 points 2002-03 (76 as a freshman)
JUSTIN WRIGHT-FOREMAN 155 points 2016-17 (44 as a freshman)
Stephen Nwaukoni 144 points 2011-12 (59 as a freshman)
BERNARDI CLOSES IN ON 1,000
Senior guard Brian Bernardi, who did not play Saturday, has 972 points in two-plus seasons at Hofstra. He is looking to become the 34th player in program history to reach 1,000 points and the fifth to do so after beginning his career elsewhere.
GUSTYS HITS THE TOP 10
Junior forward Rokas Gustys pulled down 11 rebounds against Delaware to move past Quinas Brower into ninth place on the program’s all-time list with 767 boards. He is 31 rebounds away from surpassing Dave Bell for eighth place.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Scrubs bias! (Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence graduated from William & Mary)
The Daily Show bias! (Jon Stewart graduated from William & Mary, where he played soccer)
Daniel Dixon is still here bias! (The guy who smashed our hearts into a thousand little pieces in the 2015 CAA tournament semifinals is somehow only a senior this year)
One of the original five bias! (William & Mary is one of five original Division I programs to never reach the NCAA Tournament, along with Army, The Citadel, Northwestern and St. Francis NY)
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