I saved this JUST IN CASE I needed it for a blog 27 years later! Never let anyone tell you hoarding is a bad idea.
The Flying Dutchmen got back to .500 in surprisingly nail-biting fashion Wednesday night, when they expanded a 16-point halftime lead to 19 points before hanging on to edge Princeton, 81-77, to retain possession of the VBK Kup (which might really exist only in my head, unlike the ECC). The Dutchmen will look to extend their winning streak to four games and move over .500 for the first time under Speedy Claxton this afternoon, when they’re scheduled to host Bucknell, another alma mater of a little-known former Hofstra head coach. Here’s a look back at the win over the Tigers and a look ahead to the Bison.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Aaron Estrada collected 18 of his 20 points in the first half as the Dutchmen raced out to a fast start against Princeton before fending off a furious second-half comeback. The Dutchmen led by double digits for more than 20 minutes bridging the halves before Princeton got within a possession three times in the final 2:05 and cut the lead to one with 48 seconds left. But Jalen Ray, who missed eight of his first 10 field goal attempts, banked in a 3-pointer at the shot clock buzzer with 18 seconds remaining before Princeton missed a 3-pointer on its next possession. Estrada added seven assists while playing all 40 minutes. Omar Silverio continued emerging as a bench weapon by scoring 17 points in 34 minutes. Darlinstone Dubar had 15 points while going 7-of-8 from the field. Zach Cooks (13 points, seven assists, four steals) had another solid all-around game. Ray finished with eight points, as did Kvonn Cramer who was limited to seven minutes by what appeared to be an ankle injury.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Princeton, 12/1)
3: Aaron Estrada
2: Darlinstone Dubar
1: Omar Silverio
SEASON STANDINGS
Darlinstone Dubar 12
Aaron Estrada 9
Zach Cooks 9
Jalen Ray 9
Omar Silverio 4
Kvonn Cramer 4
Abayomi Iyiola 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
Yes! Whoohoo! The Dutchmen came within a point of an 81-77 victory eight previous times, most recently an 80-77 win over Drexel on Feb. 28, 2019 and most notably the 82-77 upset win over Florida State on Nov. 20, 2015. And because this is apparently a thing now, one of the near 81-77 wins was over Wagner in an 81-78 win on Feb. 16, 1980.
This is the third straight unicorn score victory for the Dutchmen as well as (checks notes) their third of the season. This is the fourth time since we began tracking unicorn scores in 2018-19 that the Dutchmen have won three straight games by unicorn scores. The previous three times all happened during the 2019-20 season, which means the Dutchmen are going to win the CAA. Don’t look at me, I don’t make the rules. The Dutchmen have not won four straight games by unicorn scores in this unicorn score era.
The Dutchmen recorded no unicorn scores last season after recording 13 unicorn scores in 2019-20 and 10 unicorn scores in 2018-19. 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.
11/24/21: 87-49 over Molloy
11/27/21: 98-84 over Detroit Mercy
12/1/21: 81-77 over Princeton
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER EIGHT GAMES
With Wednesday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 4-4, which is tied for the 39th-best start in program history…or, if you’re a negative Nellie, tied for the 27th-worst start in program history! The gap between those numbers is closing. Seventeen other teams began 4-4, most recently the 1999-2000 team — which was Speedy Claxton’s senior year, which ended with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Again, it's meant to be, folks. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through eight games.
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 4-4
1976-77: 6-2
1999-2000: 4-4
2000-01: 6-2
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 5-3
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 4-4
2004-05: 8-0 (most recent 8-0 start)
2005-06: 6-2
2006-07: 5-3 (over .500 for good)
2015-16: 6-2 (most recent 6-2 start)
2018-19: 5-3 (marked second win in the 16-game winning streak)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 4-4
1961-62: 7-1
1962-63: 6-2
1963-64: 7-1
Some other notable eight-game starts:
2020-21: 5-3 (most recent 5-3 start)
2013-14: 2-6 (most recent 2-6 start)
2012-13: 3-5 (most recent 3-5 start)
2008-09: 7-1 (most recent 7-1 start)
2002-03: 1-7 (most recent 1-7 start)
1994-95: 2-6 (Jay Wright’s first team)
1993-94: 1-7 (VBK’s last team)
1960-61: 8-0
1959-60: 8-0
1955-56: 8-0
1951-52: 8-0
1947-48: 8-0
The Dutchmen have never opened 0-8.
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1948-49, 1951-52, 1954-55, 1957-58.
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.
SPEEDY THROUGH EIGHT
With Wednesday's win. Speedy Claxton improved to 4-4 as head coach. Only one other coach — Joe Harrington in his lone season in 1979-80 — to open 4-4 at Hofstra.
ZACH STILL COOKIN’
Zach Cooks scored 13 points Wednesday night as he extended his career-opening (well, at Hofstra, at least) streak of double-digit scoring efforts to eight games. Cooks is just the fourth player in the last 30 years to begin his Hofstra career by scoring in double figures in at least eight straight games and the first since 2014-15, when Juan’ya Green scored in double figures in every game on his way to building a 43-game streak and Ameen Tanksley scored in double figures in his first 19 games.
Juan’ya Green 43 games (start of 2014-15 season through Dec. 9, 2015)
Ameen Tanksley 19 games (2014-15 season)
Seth Meyers 8 games (1995-96 season)
ZACH COOKS 8 games (2021-22 season)
Antoine Agudio 7 games (2004-05 season)***
***freshman
Speedy Claxton’s career-opening double-digit scoring streak lasted three games in 1996-97, while the late great Demetrius Dudley’s streak spanned four games in 1991-92.
ESTRADA'S 20/20 VISION
Aaron Estrada established a season-high for points scored Wednesday night, when he tied his career-high with 20 points. Estrada also scored 20 points for Saint Peter’s against Fairfield on Feb. 16, 2020.
NO STONE OF HANDS FOR DUBAR
Darlinstone Dubar was 7-of-8 from the field Wednesday night, including 6-for-6 from inside the 3-point line. Dubar is 9-for-9 on 2-point attempts in his last two games, which is the first time a Hofstra player has been perfect from inside the arc in back-to-back games (minimum three attempts per game) since Feb. 21-23, 2019, when Jacquil Taylor was 5-for-5 against both Towson and James Madison.
SMOKIN' SILVERIO
Omar Silverio continued his emergence as the Dutchmen’s sixth man Wednesday by scoring 17 points in 34 minutes. It was the third straight double-digit effort from Silverio, who’d scored at least 10 points in back-to-back games just once previously at Hofstra. In addition, the 34 minutes by Silverio were the most by a true reserver since Jalen Ray played 34 minutes against Delaware in the CAA semifinals on Mar. 11, 2019. Tareq Coburn played 35 minutes as a reserve against James Madison on Feb. 29, 2020, but he came off the bench on Senior Day so that Connor Klementowicz could earn the start.
REBOUNDING RAY
Here’s a fun stat for you inspired by a game note from Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov: While Jalen Ray struggled from the field Wednesday night, he pulled down a team-high seven rebounds — the first time in 129 career games he has even held a share of the team lead in rebounds. Seventeen other players have led or shared the team lead in rebounds in a single game during Ray’s five-year career. Here they are! Look at some of these deep cut names. (If a player shared the team lead, I gave him half a point…and the total adds up to 131 because Ray missed the first two games this season)
Isaac Kante 33.5
Rokas Gustys 27.5
Jacquil Taylor 22.5
Tareq Coburn 13
Eli Pemberton 10.5
Kvonn Cramer 6.5
Abraham Iyiola 2.5
Joel Angus II 2
Kevin Schutte 2
Stafford Trueheart 2
Justin Wright-Foreman 2
Desure Buie 1.5
Aaron Estrada 1.5
Zach Cooka 1
Dan Dwyer 1
Darlinstone Dubar 1
Hunter Sabety 0.5
RAY MOVIN' ON UP (part one)
Jalen Ray played in his 129th game for Hofstra Wednesday night, tied for second-most all-time with former teammate Eli Pemberton. As long as he plays tonight, Ray will move into sole possession of second place behind another former teammate — Desure Buie, who holds the program record with 141 games played.
RAY MOVIN’ ON UP (part two)
With his eight points Wednesday, Ray remained in 15th place on the all-time Hofstra scoring list. Ray has a chance to gain multiple spots this afternoon. He’s just five points shy of surpassing Rick Apodaca for 14th place all-time as well as 18 points shy of surpassing Leroy Allen for 13th place and 20 points away from moving past Fran Walker into 12th place.
12.) Frank Walker 1,437
13.) Leroy Allen 1,435
14.) Rick Apodaca 1,422
15.) JALEN RAY 1,418
16.) Ken Rood 1,368
Ray has finished each of the last five games in 15th place on the all-time scoring list — by far the longest he's gone without moving up a spot since he joined the 1,000-point club against Richmond on Dec. 22, 2020. Assuming he catches Walker, it will likely be a while before he catches Norman Richardson, who is 11th all-time with 1,677 points.
Dec. 22, 2020: Tied for 38th place
Jan. 2: 38th place
Jan. 3: 37th place
Jan. 7: 36th place
Jan. 9: 35th place
Jan. 15: 34th place
Jan. 17: 33rd place
Jan. 23: 29th place
Jan. 24: Tied for 28th place
Jan. 30: 28th place
Jan. 31: 25th place
Feb. 6: 23rd place
Feb. 7: 22nd place
Feb. 13: 21st place
Feb. 14: 21st place
Mar. 7: 18th place
Mar. 8: 17th place
Nov. 16: 16th place
Nov. 19: 15th place
Nov. 22: 15th place
Nov. 24: 15th place
Nov. 27: 15th place
Dec. 1: 15th place
10-FOR-10 WINS
The Dutchmen were a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line Wednesday. It was the first time the Dutchmen were perfect from the line (minimum 10 attempts) since they went 15-for-15 in a 79-60 win over Delaware on Feb. 26, 2011.
OVER THE AIR
Today’s game will be aired on FloHoops.com (subscription required). Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
BUCKNELL AND THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
Bucknell, under seventh-year head coach Nathan Davis, is 2-6 this season after falling to St. Francis (PA), 93-67, on Wednesday.
Bucknell was tied for sixth in the Patriot League’s preseason poll. Senior guard Andrew Funk (great name) leads the Bison with 18.1 points per game. Junior guard Xander Rice is averaging 13.6 points per game while junior center Alex Timmerman (11.5 points per game. 7.5 rebounds per game) and senior center Andre Screen (11.0 points per game, 7.0 rebounds per game) rank third and fourth in scoring and first and second in rebounding, respectively. Screen is 7-feet tall while Timmerman is 6-foot-9, which could present the undersized Dutchmen some issues.
The Dutchmen and Bison have two common opponents. In addition to beating Princeton on Wednesday, Hofstra fell to Richmond, 81-68, on Nov. 22. Bucknell is slated to visit Princeton on Tuesday before trekking to Richmond on Dec. 22.
The Dutchmen are 10-20 all-time against Bucknell, which was an East Coast Conference rival long before I made up the league upon arriving at Hofstra. Bucknell won the most recent game between the schools Nov. 13, 2019, when the host Bison earned an 86-71 win.
Hofstra is 91-82 all-time against current Patriot League schools, which include five former conference foes (American, Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh in the East Coast Conference and Boston University in the NAC/America East).
At KenPom.com this morning, Hofstra is ranked 135th while Bucknell is ranked 310th. KenPom.com predicts an 84-69 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 13.5-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 4-3 against the spread this season.
FROM THE VBK KUP TO...THE JAY JUG?
For the second straight game, the Dutchmen will oppose the alma mater of one of the school’s legendary coaches. Jay Wright played three seasons at Bucknell and graduated from the school in 1983– just 11 years before he was hired at Hofstra to replace Butch van Breda Kolff, who graduated from Princeton in 1946. This means we are further from Wright’s college graduation now than Wright was from van Breda Kolff’s in 1983. Welp. Anyway, I guess this means next we have to play La Salle (Joe Mihalich’s alma mater) or Adelphi (Tom Pecora’s alma mater) or maybe Hofs…oh yeah.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Jay Wright bias! (Again, stick with the classics)
Greg Schiano bias! (The former and now again Rutgers head football coach graduated from Rutgers)
The ECC was real and spectacular bias! (Again, the classics)
You’re just mad we owned you in I-AA football bias! (Hofstra won its last five football games against Bucknell, including a 45-21 victory on Sept. 10, 1994 in the first Hofstra road game I ever covered/attended in any sport. I got up at 5 AM to catch the fan bus there. Really! I got up before dawn!)
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