I love these real home finales. They're so relaxing. Not like that fake one Saturday that almost got me fired.
The Flying Dutchmen bounced back from Thursday’s lopsided loss to Elon with a businesslike performance against William & Mary on Saturday afternoon, when Omar Silverio and Jalen Ray had senior moments and Aaron Estrada joined some select company in an 83-67 win. The win locked the Dutchmen into the no. 3 seed in the CAA Tournament and a quarterfinal game against no. 6 Charleston…but not before the Dutchmen and Cougars tune up by playing each other in the regular season finale tonight in the makeup of a game originally scheduled for Jan. 5. Here’s a look back at the win over the Tribe and a look ahead to the Cougars.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
William & Mary held a handful of early leads before Silverio and Ray teamed up to ensure the Dutchmen wouldn’t absorb a second straight disappointing defeat. Silverio and Ray scored the first 11 points in a 13-2 run that gave the Dutchmen their first double-digit lead at 25-15. The Tribe got within six points three times before Silverio ended the half on his own 6-2 run to extend the Dutchmen’s lead to 41-31. Ray and another senior, Zach Cooks, accounted for all the points as the Dutchmen opened the second half on a 9-0 run, a span in which William & Mary went 0-for-5 with four turnovers. The Dutchmen led by 22 points three different times before the Tribe got as close as 12 and made things interesting for the FEPO segment of the population. Silverio drained five 3-pointers and scored all 20 of his points in the first half while Ray finished with 19 points and three steals. Estrada posted a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) and added five steals. Darlinstone Dubar, coming off the bench for the first time as Cooks and Jarrod Simmons got starts on Senior Day, had 12 points. Kvonn Cramer had eight points, three blocks and two steals in 10 energetic minutes.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. William & Mary, 2/26)
3: Jalen Ray
2: Omar Silverio
1: Aaron Estrada
SEASON STANDINGS
Aaron Estrada 60
Jalen Ray 32
Darlinstone Dubar 30
Zach Cooks 21
Omar Silverio 15
Abayomi Iyiola 13
Caleb Burgess 4
Kvonn Cramer 4
Jarrod Simmons 1
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
No! But it took quite the deep dive into the media guide to find the most recent 83-67 win, which happened against the United States Marine Merchant Academy way back during the 1956-57 season. My parents were still in elementary school!
The Dutchmen have 10 unicorn score victories this season after recording no unicorn scores last season, 13 unicorn score victories in 2019-20 and 10 unicorn score victories 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.
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER THIRTY GAMES
With Saturday’s win, the Dutchmen improved to 20-10, which is tied for the 12th-best record through 30 games in program history. It’s the third time the Dutchmen have opened 20-10 and the first time since 2010-11. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through 30 games.
NCAA DIVISION I TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 18-12 (season ended with an 80-78 loss to Connecticut in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, which left me as the most disappointed two-year-old toddler in the Nutmeg State, first NCAA Tournament as a D-I program, only 18-12 start in program history)
1976-77: 23-7 (season ended with a 90-83 loss to Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, most recent 23-7 start)
1999-2000: 24-6 (America East champs! Win in 30th game was a 76-69 victory over Delaware at Hofstra Arena that clinched the Dutchmen’s first NCAA Tournament berth since *checks notes* 1977)
2000-01: 26-4 (America East champs again! Win in 30th game was a 68-54 victory over Delaware at Hofstra Arena that marked the final win in program-record, single-season 18-game winning streak and sent the Dutchmen to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year, only 26-4 start in school history)
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 22-8 (most recent 22-8 start, loss in 30th game snapped an eight-game winning streak and was the final loss of the season)
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 22-8 (win over Vermont in America East quarterfinals was final win of season)
2004-05: 21-9 (season ended with 53-44 loss to Saint Joseph’s, only 21-9 start in school history)
2005-06: 24-6 (loss in 30th game came against UNC Wilmington in CAA championship game, but don’t worry, the Dutchmen will definitely get an at-large bid six days from now)
2006-07: 22-8 (won regular season finale, final win of season)
2015-16: 22-8 (won regular season finale to clinch no. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament)
2018-19: 24-6 (most recent 24-6 start, win in 30th game clinched tie for the CAA regular season title)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1962-63: 23-7 (season ended with 78-71 win over Mount St. Mary’s in an NCAA Tournament game)
Hofstra’s three other Division II tournament teams — the 1958-59, 1961-62 and 1963-64 squads — all completed their seasons in fewer than 30 games.
Some other notable 30-game records — in fact, all of them!
2017-18: 19-11 (most recent 19-11 start, won regular season finale for final win of season)
2016-17: 14-16 (only 14-16 start)
2014-15: 19-11
2013-14: 8-22 (only 8-22 start, Joe Mihalich’s first team)
2012-13: 7-23 (only 7-23 start, worst 30-game record in school history)
2011-12: 9-21 (only 9-21 start)
2010-11: 20-10 (won regular season finale)
2009-10: 17-13 (most recent 17-13 start, win in 30th game marked fifth win of seven-game winning streak)
2008-09: 20-10 (won regular season finale)
2007-08: 12-18 (season ended with 81-66 loss to Towson in a CAA Tournament outbracket game, only 12-18 start)
2001-02: 11-19 (only 11-19 start, 72-52 win over Towson in CAA Tournament first-round game ended Tom Pecora-era record-tying eight-game losing streak)
1997-98: 19-11 (win over Hartford in America East quarterfinal was final win of season)
1985-86: 17-13 (season ended with 80-76 loss to Drexel in ECC championship game)
Hofstra has never been 30-0, 29-1, 28-2, 27-3, 25-5, 16-14, 15-15, 13-17, 10-20, 6-24, 5-25, 4-26, 3-27, 2-28, 1-29 or 0-30 through 30 games.
Sixty seasons were completed in fewer than 30 games:
1936-37 (7-10)
1937-38 (10-4)
1938-39 (10-8)
1939-40 (12-9)
1940-41 (13-7)
1941-42 (15-6)
1942-43 (15-6)
1943-44 (7-12)
1944-45 (8-13)
1945-46 (12-7)
1946-47 (18-6)
1947-48 (13-6)
1948-49 (18-8)
1949-50 (17-9)
1950-51 (18-11)
1951-52 (26-3)
1952-53 (20-7)
1953-54 (15-9)
1954-55 (19-7)
1955-56 (22-4)
1956-57 (11-15)
1957-58 (15-8)
1958-59 (20-7)
1959-60 (23-1)
1960-61 (21-4)
1961-62 (24-4)
1963-64 (23-6)
1964-65 (11-14)
1965-66 (16-10)
1966-67 (12-13)
1967-68 (13-12)
1968-69 (12-13)
1969-70 (13-13)
1970-71 (18-8)
1971-72 (11-14)
1972-73 (8-16)
1973-74 (8-16)
1974-75 (11-13)
1977-78 (8-19)
1978-79 (8-19)
1979-80 (14-14)
1980-81 (12-15)
1981-82 (12-16)
1982-83 (18-9)
1983-84 (14-14)
1984-85 (14-15)
1986-87 (10-18)
1987-88 (6-21)
1988-89 (14-15)
1989-90 (13-15)
1990-91 (14-14)
1991-92 (20-9)
1992-93 (9-18)
1993-94 (9-20)
1994-95 (10-18)
1995-96 (9-18)
1996-97 (12-15)
2002-03 (8-21)
2003-04 (14-15)
2020-21 (13-10)
(Well) more than half the previous Hofstra seasons were completed by this point.
Full records not available for the following seasons: 1936-37, 1941-42, 1942-43, 1945-46, 1948-49, 1949-50, 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.
NUMBER TEN THROUGH THIRTY
With Saturday's win, Speedy Claxton improved to 20-10 as head coach. He is the second coach to open 20-10 at Hofstra, following in the footsteps of Mo Cassara in 2010-11, and the third Hofstra coach to post a winning record through 30 games in his first season (or the first season of a second stint). Paul Lynner opened 27-6 in 1962-63. Only two other first-year coaches presided over seasons of at least 30 games, and Tom Pecora (11-19 in 2001-02) and Joe Mihalich (8-22 in 2013-14) were both under .500 by this point.
The debut seasons (or first season of a second stint) ended in fewer than 30 games for 11 coaches, with Jack McDonald posting an 18-6 record in the first and only second of his second stint in 1946-47, Frank Reilly leading the Dutchmen to a 13-6 record in 1947-48 and Butch van Breda Kolff going 22-4 in the first season of his first stint in 1955-56. Joe Harrington finished 14-14 in his lone season at the helm in 1979-80 and Mike Farrelly directed the Dutchmen to a 13-10 record in his lone season last year.
TWENTY'S THE MAGIC NUMBER…
…for starting pitchers (well, back when wins mattered) and college basketball programs. The win Saturday assured the Dutchmen of the 24th 20-win season in program history, including the 15th in the Division I era (dating back to 1966-67) and the 10th since joining the CAA in 2001-02. No other current CAA school has as many 20-win seasons as a member of the CAA and only Charleston (11 20-win seasons, including eight as a member of the Southern Conference) has more 20-win seasons since 2001-02. And among former CAA members, only VCU (15 20-win seasons) and Old Dominion (11 20-win seasons) have more 20-win seasons since 2001-02. Pretty good.
SENIOR DAY SUCCESS
The home finale isn’t until tonight, but we’re considering Saturday Senior Day because, well, Hofstra held Senior Day on Saturday (justifiably so, as a Saturday afternoon makes for a much more festive occasion and opportunity for players to invite family members and friends). With the win, the Dutchmen improved to 21-4 on Senior Day in the DD era, including 16-3 in the CAA era. This comes with a bit of an asterisk, as the Dutchmen fell to Towson, 61-60, in the home finale in 2002, when they had no seniors. Thus no Senior Day.
SPEEDY ON SENIOR DAY
Speedy Claxton has now been a part of Senior Day as a player, assistant coach and head coach. The Dutchmen are 10-2 on Senior Day when Claxton is in uniform or on the sidelines, with wins in each of his four seasons as a player (1997-2000) before the Dutchmen went 5-2 on Senior Day when Claxton was an assistant to Joe Mihalich.
SENIOR MOMENTS
Seniors Omar Silverio (12 points), Jalen Ray (eight points) and Jarrod Simmons (two points) combined to score the Dutchmen's first 23 points Saturday before Darlinstone Dubar hit a layup with 10:56 left. The 23 straight points by seniors to open Senior Day were the most since at least the 2006-07 season, which is as far back as I can track play-by-plays in Hofstra’s online archives. Seniors Justin Wright-Foreman (eight points), Jacquil Taylor (seven points) and Kenny Wormley (four points) combined to score the first 19 points on Senior Day against James Madison on Feb. 23, 2019. Ironically, in that it’s coincidence, the first non-senior to score in each of the previous two Senior Days was Jalen Ray, whom some believe has been a senior since the day he got here in the fall of 2017.
STREAKY SILVERIO
Omar Silverio scored all 20 of his points in the first half Saturday. He’s the first Hofstra player to score at least 20 points — all in the first half — since Tareq Coburn scored all 21 of his points in the first half of a 102-61 win over Elon on Feb. 7, 2019.
ESTRADA JOINS SPEEDY IN THE 10/5/5 CLUB
The final seconds of Saturday’s game were awfully interesting for a contest decided by 16 points! Aaron Estrada’s rebound of Connor Kochera’s putback attempt with two seconds left gave him 10 rebounds, a double-double and a stat line no one’s posted for the Dutchmen since the guy presently coaching Estrada. Estrada, who had 11 points and five steals, is the first Hofstra player to finish with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five steals since Speedy Claxton had 29 points, 10 rebounds and five steals against Northeastern on Jan. 4, 2000. That was 716 games ago and the second game played at Hofstra Arena!
(The other interesting things: Kochera’s miss, as well as the preceding errant 3-pointer by Tyler Rice, ensured a non-unicorn score win for Hofstra and made the game a push for those who follow such things, for entertainment purposes only of course)
ESTRADA IS MR. EVERYTHING
Updating another great Estrada-Claxton connection stat, this one from Hofstra SID Stephen Gorchov: Estrada is averaging 18.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. No Hofstra player has averaged at least 18 points, five rebounds and five assists in a season since Claxton averaged 22.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.0 assists during the 1999-2000 season.
AARON BUCKETS
Updating a great stat from Hofstra in-game host and occasional play-by-play man Dan Savarino: Aaron Estrada has scored more points in CAA play alone — 372 points in 17 league games — than he did in his entire CAREER entering this season (255 points at Saint Peter’s and Oregon). In addition, he has at least 20 points in 12 CAA games and in 15 games overall after posting just one 20-point game at Saint Peter’s and Oregon.
HE’S MR. MIDRANGE AGAIN?
Estrada did most of his damage from inside the 3-point arc for the third straight game Saturday when he was 4-of-7 on his 2-point attempts and 1-of-5 from 3-point land. Estrada is 4-of-24 from 3-point land in his last four games, which followed a four-game stretch in which he was 18-of-30 from beyond the arc.
CRAMER’S CONTRIBUTIONS
Kvonn Cramer, whose playing time has been reduced this season due to injury and the 1-2 punch of Abayomi Iyiola and Jarrod Simmons at center, provided 10 impressive minutes off the bench Saturday, when he scored eight points while going 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Cramer also added three blocks and two steals in becoming the first Hofstra player to collect at least eight points, three blocks and two steals since…Cramer had 17 points, three blocks and two steals against UNC Wilmington on Jan. 31, 2021. The three blocks also tied a single-high for a Hofstra player. Darlinstone Dubar had three blocks against Richmond on Nov. 22 and against Charleston on Jan. 27.
THIS RUN OF PERFECTION GOES TO ELEVEN
Cramer’s perfect shooting afternoon marked the 11th time this season a Hofstra player has been perfect from the field (minimum three attempts). Cramer also achieved the feat by going 4-for-4 against Princeton on Dec. 1, and 3-for3 against Towson on Jan. 11. Only Abayomi Iyiola (five) has more perfect shooting games. Jarrod Simmons has two and Darlinstone Dubar has one.
DUBAR DOWN LOW
Speaking of Darlinstone Dubar, he was 4-of-4 from inside the arc Saturday. It’s the sixth time this season he’s been perfect on his 2-point attempts (minimum three attempts) and the first time since he hit all three of his 2-point attempts against James Madison on Feb. 5.
SENIOR DAY START
Graduate student Jarrod Simmons drew his first start for the Dutchmen Saturday, when he scored three points, pulled down four rebounds and had two assists in 23 minutes. He’s the eighth player in the DD era (1993-present) to make his first start for Hofstra on Senior Day, following in the footsteps of Tom Marich (1998), Mike Feeley (2001), Jeff Fox (2001), Ryan Johnson (2008), Matt Grogan (2013), Dan Dwyer (2019) and Connor Klementowicz (2020). Caveat: In the 13 games since he returned from a knee injury, Simmons has played more minutes than Abayomi Iyiola six times and the same number of minutes twice, so there may be more starts in his future. Speaking of that time share…
ALMOST IDLE IYIOLA
…Abayomi Iyiola had one point, two rebounds and two assists in just six minutes Saturday, his second-fewest of the season behind only a four-minute appearance off the bench against Princeton on Dec. 1, when Iyiola was coming back from a four-game absence.
OVER THE AIR
If tonight’s game is played, it will be carried live on FloHoops.com (subscription required). Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SCOUTING CHARLESTON
The Cougars, under first-year head coach Pat Kelsey, are 16-13 overall and 8-9 in the CAA after a stunning 80-79 loss to Drexel on Saturday. Charleston never trailed until Amari Williams’ dunk with under two seconds left. Now THAT’S a quirky stat!
The Dutchmen and Cougars had no common foes in non-league play. In the CAA, both teams swept Northeastern and were swept by Towson. Hofstra swept James Madison, which swept Charleston, as well as Delaware and Drexel, both of whom split with the Cougars. The Dutchmen split with UNC Wilmington, which swept Charleston, as well as with Elon and William & Mary, each of whom the Cougars swept.
The Dutchmen, who were picked to finish fifth in the CAA preseason poll, are ranked 119th at KenPom.com. The Cougars, who were picked to finish seventh, are ranked 159th.
According to KenPom.com. the Dutchmen rank fourth in the CAA in conference-only offensive efficiency (108.5) and second in defensive efficiency (102.6). The Cougars rank sixth in conference-only offensive efficiency (105.6) and fourth in defensive efficiency (103.3). Notably, Charleston ranks second in the entire country in adjusted tempo (74.0 possessions per 40 minutes), behind only St. John’s. Something something Tareq Coburn.
Graduate student forward John Meeks, a transfer from Bucknell, leads the Cougars with 13.9 points per game and ranks third in rebounding at 4.7 rebounds per game. He scored 16 points off the bench Saturday after missing two of the previous four games — and playing a total of just 11 minutes in the other two games — due to injury. Freshman guard Reyne Smith, a native of Australia who won five CAA Rookie of the Week awards, is averaging 12.2 points per game. Graduate student forward Dimitrius Underwood, a transfer from Division III Texas-Dallas who shared CAA Player of the Week honors last week with Amari Williams, is averaging 11.6 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game. Junior guard Brendan Tucker is averaging 11.0 points per game. Graduate student forward Osinachi Smart ranks second in rebounding at 4.8 rebounds per game.
KenPom.com predicts an 83-77 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 5-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 12-14-2 against the spread this season.
SNEAK PEEK
Hofstra’s win on Saturday and Charleston’s last-second loss locked the Dutchmen and Cougars into the no. 3 and no. 6 seeds, respectively, in the CAA Tournament and set up a quarterfinal matchup scheduled for Sunday night at 8:30 PM. If this were like the NFL or Major League Baseball (remember Major League Baseball?), Speedy Claxton and Pat Kelsey would pull their starters after two minutes. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see a bit more of Kvonn Cramer and Jaquan Carlos tonight.
GOT USED TO HOME COOKING
Tonight is the final game of a four-game homestand for the Dutchmen. It comes with an asterisk — the Dutchmen were slated to end the regular season with a three-game homestand before this makeup was tacked on — but this is the longest conference homestand for Hofstra in the CAA era and the longest anywhere since a four-game homestand against America East foes New Hampshire, Maine, Northeastern and Boston University from Jan. 19-28, 2001.
ALL-TIME VS. COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON
Hofstra is 8-7 against Charleston in a series that began with the Cougars joining the CAA prior to the 2013-14 season. The Dutchmen are looking for their first regular season sweep of Charleston since 2018-19 after edging the Cougars, 76-73, on Jan. 27. Seven of the last nine games between the teams have been decided by six points or fewer. Charleston was the only team Hofstra didn’t face during the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Pat Kelsey sounds like Hank Scorpio bias! (Have you ever seen a guy say goodbye to a shoe, @kingkreese?)
Reyne Smith got tricked into accepting a $900 collect call bias! (Any team yielding multiple Simpsons references is OK by me)
Heath Hembree recorded the last out for the Mets at Citi Field last season by snaring a comebacker bias! (A twist on a familiar Charleston bias topic)
That's OK we’ll take these calls to get the ones next week bias! (Self-explanatory)
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