The only thing sweeter than 1980 Topps baseball cards are 1979 Topps football cards.
Seriously, 1975-76 Indiana, are you sweating yet? The Flying Dutchmen remained perfect Monday night, when they frittered away an early 12-point lead but mounted another impressive late-game surge to edge George Washington, 85-80. The Dutchmen will look to win their fourth straight tonight, when they begin a lengthy road trip at San Jose State. Here’s a look back at the win over the Colonials and a look ahead to the Spartans.
THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Aaron Estrada (33 points) bounced back from a rare quiet game and Darlinstone Dubar, Tyler Thomas and Amar’e Marshall all hit big shots down the stretch as the Dutchmen overcame James Bishop’s near one-man show for George Washington. Estrada scored 20 points in the first half, including six in a game-opening 15-3 run. The Dutchmen led 48-37 at the half before Bishop sparked the Colonials’ comeback by scoring 26 points in the final 20 minutes. Bishop, who finished with a whopping 44 points, hit a 3-pointer with 13:06 left gave George Washington its first lead at 54-53 and another 3-pointer by the senior put the Colonials ahead for the final time at 71-70 with 5:30 left. But Dubar hit a baseline layup on the next trip down the floor to begin a 9-0 run for the Dutchmen in which Thomas and Estrada hit jumpers before Marshall — pressed into sizable second half duty because Jaquan Carlos had four fouls — drained a 3-pointer with 3:26 left. George Washington scored the next six points before Dubar hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock was dwindling to extend the Dutchmen’s lead to 82-76 with 1:03 remaining. Estrada shot 6-of-10 from 3-point land and added five rebounds and four assists. Thomas had 17 points and Dubar collected 13 points and eight rebounds in just 22 minutes. Center Nelson Boachie-Yiadom had another yeoman-like effort in the paint with seven points, seven rebounds and four assists in 35 minutes. Marshall had six points, including a tie-breaking 3-pointer fewer than 30 seconds after he replaced Carlos just beyond the midway point of the second half.
3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. George Washington, 11/14)
3: Aaron Estrada
2: Tyler Thomas
1: Darlinstone Dubar
SEASON STANDINGS
Aaron Estrada 6
Tyler Thomas 5
Darlinstone Dubar 4
Jaquan Carlos 3
It’s a countdown!
WAS THIS A UNICORN SCORE?
Yes! The Dutchmen previously earned wins by scores of 82-80, 83-80, 84-80, 86-80, 87-80 and 88-80, as well as 85-83 (Iona in 1969-69) and 84-82 (Saint Peter’s in 1965-66). But they’d never won 85-80 before Monday night.
This is the Flying Dutchmen’s second straight unicorn score victory and second unicorn score victory of the season. The Dutchmen recorded 11 unicorn score victories last season after recording no unicorn scores in 2020-21, 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. You may also know it as a “Scorigami,” a term popularized in the NFL.
11/11/22: 83-78 over Iona
11/14/22: 85-80 over George Washington
WHO HAD THE KEITH HERNANDEZ?
As you may have surmised by now, Darlinstone Dubar hit the basket that put the Dutchmen ahead for good by sinking that baseline layup with 5:09 left in the game. It is the earliest a Hofstra player has ever hit a known Keith Hernandez dating back to *flips calendar* when we began this feature last week.
Jaquan Carlos tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Princeton, 11/7/22 (1:11 left 2H)
Tyler Thomas tie-breaking 3-pointer vs. Iona, 11/11/22 (:35.2 left 2H)
Darlinstone Dubar go-ahead layup vs. George Washington, 11/14/22 (5:09 left 2H)
The Keith Hernandez is bestowed upon the player who scores the points that put the Dutchmen ahead for good in a victory. The stat pays homage to Hernandez, the World Series-winning Cardinals and Mets first baseman who had a record 129 game-winning RBIs when the stat was inexplicably discontinued after the 1988 season.
THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER THREE GAMES
As you may have gathered by now, the Dutchmen are 3-0. This ties the 2022-23 team for the best record in school history through three games! Eighteen other teams began 3-0, most recently the 2017-18 squad. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through three games:
NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1975-76: 2-1
1976-77: 2-1
1999-2000: 1-2
2000-01: 3-0
2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 1-2
NIT TEAMS
1998-99: 1-2
2005-06: 2-1
2006-07: 0-3 (most recent 0-3 start)
2015-16: 3-0
2018-19: 2-1 (most recent 2-1 start)
NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS
1958-59: 1-2
1961-62: 2-1
1962-63: 1-2
1963-64: 3-0
Some other notable three-game starts:
2021-22: 1-2 (most recent 1-2 start)
2013-14: 1-2 (under .500 for good)
2011-12: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
2008-09: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
2007-08: 1-2 (under .500 for good)
2005-06: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
2002-03: 1-2 (win over Lehigh in third game was only win in the non-conference schedule)
2001-02: 2-1 (loss in third game was Tom Pecora’s first as head coach)
1997-98: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
1995-96: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
1994-95: 1-2 (under .500 for good, fire Jay Wright)
1988-89: 1-1 (Loss in second game was Butch van Breda Kolff’s first in his second stint as head coach)
1987-88: 1-2 (under .500 for good)
1980-81: 2-1 (loss in third game was Dick Berg’s first as head coach, over .500 for the last time)
1974-75: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
1970-71: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
1957-58: 1-2 (under .500 for the last time)
1955-56: 2-0 (Butch van Breda Kolff improves to 3-0)
1947-48: 2-0 (Frank Reilly improves to 3-0)
1946-47: 2-1 (over .500 for good)
1943-44: 2-1 (over .500 for the last time)
1942-43: 1-2 (under .500 for the last time)
1938-39: 1-2 (under .500 for the last time)
1936-37: 1-2 (IT HAS HAPPENED: 42-40 overtime win over Staten Island is first win in program history)
This feature is inspired by Mets superfan and blogger 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-FIVE
With Monday night’s win, Speedy Claxton improved to 24-11 (.686) as head coach. That’s the third-best winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 35 games at the helm.
Paul Lynner 27-8 (.771, 35th game was the fifth game of his second season in 1963-64)
Butch van Breda Kolff I 27-8 (.771, 35th game was the ninth game of his second season in 1956-57)
SPEEDY CLAXTON 24-11 (.686, 34th game was the second game of his second season in 2022-23)
Frank Reilly 23-12 (.657, 35th game was the 16th game of his second season in 1948-49)***
Mo Cassara 22-13 (.629, 35th game was the second game of his second season in 2011-12)
Jack McDonald I 19-16 (.543, 35th game was the fourth game of his third season in 1938-39)***
Dick Berg 16-19 (.457, 35th game was the eighth game of his second season in 1981-82)
Butch van Breda Kolff II 16-19 (.457, 35th game was the sixth game of his second season in 1989-90)
Jack Smith 13-22 (.371, 35th game was the 16th game of his second season in 1944-45)
Tom Pecora 13-22 (.371, 35th game was the third game of his second season in 2002-03)
Jay Wright 12-23 (.343, 35th game was the seventh game of his second season in 1995-96)
Joe Mihalich 11-24 (.314, 35th game was the second game of his second season in 2013-14)
Roger Gaeckler 9-26 (.257, 35th game was the 11th game of his second season in 1973-74)
Three coaches had one-season tenures lasting fewer than 33 games at Hofstra. Jack 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.
***records during Reilly and McDonald’s stints are incomplete
TEAM BARBASOL
The Dutchmen have won each of their first three games by six points or fewer. That’s the longest streak of wins by six points or fewer since a three-game stretch from Jan. 5-12, 2019, when the Dutchmen edged Northeastern 75-72, outlasted William & Mary 93-90 in a three-overtime classic and beat Elon 74-71. The Dutchmen haven’t won four straight games by six points or fewer since Jan. 13-21, 2001, when they beat Hartford 53-47, defeated Vermont 74-69, edged New Hampshire 75-70 and beat Maine 67-62.
ESTRADA’S A HANDFUL
Aaron Estrada had his fifth 30-point game Monday night, when he finished with 33 points — two shy of his career-high, set in an 85-78 overtime win over James Madison on Feb. 5. The 33 points are the most Estrada’s scored in regulation. Estrada’s five 30-point games are the seventh-most by a Hofstra player since the start of the 1991-92 season.
Justin Wright-Foreman 23
Demetrius Dudley 12
Charles Jenkins 12
Antoine Agudio 10
Speedy Claxton 8
Loren Stokes 7
AARON ESTRADA 5
AARON’S FAST START
After being limited to just two points in the first half last Friday against Iona — his quietest first half since being held scoreless against Monmouth last Dec. 22 — Estrada scored 20 points in the first half Monday. It was the most productive first half Estrada’s had in a Hofstra uniform. All three of his previous 20-point efforts in a half came in the second half (23 points against Charleston on Jan. 27, 20 points against Delaware on Jan. 15 and 20 points against Princeton Nov. 7). The 20 points by Estrada were the most by a Hofstra player in a first half since Omar Silverio’s scorching 25-point first half against Elon on Feb. 15.
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
The 17 points by Tyler Thomas gave him 43 points in his last two games. It’s the most prolific two-game stretch he’s enjoyed since Jan. 15-17, when he scored a combined 45 points for Sacred Heart against Fairleigh Dickinson (24 points) and Central Connecticut (21 points).
NEARLY A DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR D-STONE
Darlinstone Dubar finished with 13 points and eight rebounds Monday night. It was the second time this season in which he had at least eight points and eight rebounds — he finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds against Princeton on Nov. 7 — and the fourth time he’s done so since debuting for the Dutchmen last season. He had 12 points and eight rebounds against UNC Wilmington on Jan. 29 and 11 points and 12 rebounds against Molloy last Nov. 24.
MARSHALL’S MARKSMANSHIP
Amar’e Marshall, the reigning Rookie of the Week in the CAA, got his second week off to a solid start by draining both 3-point attempts he took in the final 10 minutes Monday. Marshall is the first Hofstra player to shoot 100% from the 3-point line (minimum two attempts) since Caleb Burgess went 2-for-2 against Charleston on Feb. 28.
MARATHON MAN
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom, manning the five with Warren Williams sidelined, played 35 minutes Monday, one shy of the career-high he set way back last Friday against Iona. Boachie-Yiadom entered this season having played more than 25 minutes just once in his first 94 games with Davidson and Hofstra. He played 27 minutes against La Salle on Feb. 25, 2020.
THE FIVE DISHING OUT DIMES
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom, touted by Speedy Claxton as a distributor at the five, had four assists for the second straight game Monday night. The only other five to have at least four assists in two different games since 2010-11 (the first season of the Play Index era at College Basketball Reference) is Rokas Gustys, who had four assists against Stony Brook on Nov. 21, 2014 and four assists against UNC Wilmington on Feb. 4, 2016.
TIP OF THE HAT
We acknowledge all stats here at I’ll Be Quirky, and thus we deliver a tip of the hat to George Washington guard James Bishop, whose 44 points Monday night are almost certainly the most scored in a single game by a Hofstra opponent since at least the 1991-92 season, which is as far back as my records go at home. The only season I could not fully confirm was the 2000-01 season, but I’m pretty confident no single player scored 44 points against Jay Wright’s final team at Hofstra. Barring an unexpected discovery, Bishop's outburst surpasses Eddie Benton’s 42-point effort against the Dutchmen in Vermont’s 103-83 win at the Physical Fitness Center on Dec. 9, 1995 as the greatest single-game performance by an opponent over the last 31-plus seasons. An Eddie Benton reference! What a day!
GO FOUR IT
The Dutchmen are looking to improve to 4-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season and the 12th time in program history.
OVER THE AIR
Tonight’s game is slated to be carried live on Watch Stadium as well as on NBC Sports Bay Area, if you happen to live out there. I have no idea if Watch Stadium is a subscription service. Guess we’ll find out together! Hofstra will provide a radio feed as well as live stats at the Pride Productions hub.
SAN JOSE STATE AND THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
San Jose State, under second-year head coach Tim Miles, is 3-0 this season after beating Alabama State 70-57 on Tuesday night. It’s the first 3-0 start for the Spartans since the 2010-11 season, which was also the last time they finished at .500 or higher (17-16).
San Jose State was picked to finish 10th in the 11-team Mountain West Conference. Junior guars Omari Moore leads the Spartans with 15.0 points per game while sophomore guard Alvaro Cardenas is averaging 11.7 points per game. Senior forward Sage Tolbert III is averaging 8.3 points and a team-high 9.3 rebounds per game.
The Dutchmen and Spartans have no common opponents.
This is the second meeting between Hofstra and San Jose State in men’s basketball and just the fourth meeting in any sport. The Spartans, ranked no. 332 at the time at KenPom.com, mounted an upset in the 2019-20 season opener at the Arena, when Richard Washington scored 23 points off the bench as the visitors overcame an eight-point second half deficit to earn a 79-71 win. There’s a good reason Speedy Claxton, an assistant coach on that team, cautioned a reporter not to look ahead to Saturday’s game against Saint Mary’s. It was the biggest upset absorbed by the Dutchmen until no. 342 William & Mary notched a 63-62 victory on Dec. 29, 2021. That said, things turned out OK after that for the 2019-20 Dutchmen, at least until Mar. 11, 2020.
The only other Hofstra-San Jose State matchups have taken place in volleyball. The Spartans earned a 3-0 win over the Flying Dutchwomen in the Santa Barbara Volleyball Classic in 1995 and a 3-1 win in the University of San Francisco Powerbar Invitational in 1996. Time for revenge!
At KenPom.com this afternoon, Hofstra is ranked 132nd while San Jose State is ranked 214th. KenPom.com predicts a 72-71 win for the Dutchmen. Per the wise guys in Vegas, for entertainment purposes only, the Dutchmen are 2 1/2-point favorites. The Dutchmen are 2-1 against the spread this season.
Hofstra is 1-2 all-time against current Mountain West foes. In addition to the loss to San Jose State to start the 2019-20 season, the Dutchmen beat Air Force during the 1991-92 season and lost to UNLV during the 1992-93 season.
THINGS YOU CAN SHOUT ON TWITTER IF CALLS GO DO NOT GO HOFSTRA’S WAY
Steve DeBerg bias! (One of the best backup/fill-in quarterbacks of all-time graduated from San Jose State)
Not that Randy Johnson bias! (The utility infielder who played for the Atlanta Braves graduated from San Jose State)
I’ll put my foot in your ass if we lose this game bias! (Kurtwood Smith, who played the irascible Red Forman, graduated from San Jose State)
Peter Ueberroth bias! (The former MLB commissioner and the architect of collusion graduated from San Jose State, where he played water polo)
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