Keep It Perky: Columbia

Live look at everyone, Columbia grads included, who doubted Ken Pomeroy when he predicted a 72-70 win for Columbia.

The Flying Dutchmen continued to establish themselves as a second-half team even in defeat Wednesday night, when a furious rally fell just short in a 72-70 loss to Columbia. (KenPom called the final exactly, that guy is a genius)

Perhaps a trip to their natural state — Pennsylvania — will help the Dutchmen this afternoon, when they visit Pittsburgh with a chance to take down a power five conference foe (technically, anyway). As will hopefully remain the norm throughout the season, here’s Keep It Perky, featuring the postgame boilerplate material from the Columbia loss. The individual news and notes from the loss to the Lions and a preview of the Panthers will be posted overnight. Enjoy!

THE MOST RECENT GAME SUMMARIZED IN ONE PARAGRAPH

Cruz Davis scored 16 second-half points despite sitting out more than seven minutes due to foul trouble LLOYD CARROLL BIAS and Preston Edmead scored all but two of his 16 points after halftime as the Dutchmen trailed wire-to-wire yet nearly pulled off the comeback against resurgent Columbia. The Lions led by at least two possessions for the final 15:54 of the half and took a 42-32 lead when Kenny Noland banked a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Dutchmen appeared on the verge of getting blown out when the Lions mounted a 12-2 run to expand the lead to 54-38 with 15:07 left and then again when Davis exited after picking up his fourth foul with 12:23 left and the Dutchmen down 57-45. But Edmead, who’d missed eight straight shots since hitting a jumper 3:23 into the game, hit two free throws to begin a game-ending 24-15 run in which he accounted for 14 points. The Dutchmen inched within a possession twice with Davis on the bench and trailed 62-58 when Davis returned with 4:40 remaining. Each of Davis’ final three baskets pulled the Dutchmen within a basket, including his 3-pointer with 48 seconds left that cut Columbia’s lead to 70-69. Miles Franklin drained a layup on Columbia’s next trip and Davis missed a 3-pointer before German Plotnikov stole the ball and drew the foul with a little more than a second left. But the Dutchmen couldn’t pull off the Towson Miracle again as they failed to corral the rebound after Plotnikov missed the second free throw on purpose. Davis, who scored the Dutchmen’s first nine points of the second half, finished with 24 points, two assists, two steals and one block over 32 minutes. Edmead had one assist, the first time this season he collected fewer than five dimes, while adding three rebounds. Joshua DeCady had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in 29 energized minutes off the bench. Silas Sunday continued his impressive play in a reserve role with five points and a team-high nine rebounds over 21 minutes. Plotnikov added nine points and five rebounds. Biggie Patterson (four points and four rebounds) and Victory Onuetu (no points, six rebounds) each struggled before sitting out much of the second half.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Columbia, 12/3)

3: Cruz Davis

2: Preston Edmead

1: Joshua DeCady

SEASON STANDINGS

Cruz Davis 21

Preston Edmead 15

Biggie Patterson 6

Victory Onuetu 4

German Plotnikov 3

Silas Sunday 3

Joshua DeCady 2

THE FLYING DUTCHMEN AFTER NINE GAMES

The Dutchmen fell to 5-4 with Wednesday’s loss. This ties the 2025-26 team for the 25th-best record in school history through nine games. Fourteen other teams began 5-4, most recently the 2021-22 squad. Here is how some notable Hofstra teams have fared through nine games:

NCAA TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1975-76: 5-4

1976-77: 7-2

1999-2000: 5-4 (over .500 for good)

2000-01: 7-2

2019-20 (IT COUNTS TO US): 6-3

NIT TEAMS

1998-99: 5-4 (over .500 for good)

2004-05: 9-0 (most recent 9-0 start)

2005-06: 7-2

2006-07: 6-3

2015-16: 6-3 

2018-19: 6-3 (marked third win in the 16-game winning streak)

2022-23: 6-3

NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT TEAMS

1958-59: 5-4 (over .500 for good)

1961-62: 8-1

1962-63: 7-2

1963-64: 8-1

Some other notable nine-game starts:

2024-25: 6-3 (most recent 6-3 start)

2014-15: 7-2 (most recent 7-2 start)

2013-14: 3-6 (most recent 3-6 start)

2008-09: 8-1 (most recent 8-1 start)

2007-08: 2-7 (most recent 2-7 start)

2003-04: 4-5 (most recent 4-5 start)

2002-03: 1-8 (most recent 1-8 start)

2001-02: 5-4 (over .500 for the last time)

1997-98: 5-4 (over .500 for good)

1994-95: 2-7 (Jay Wright’s first team)

1993-94: 1-8 (VBK’s last team)

1960-61: 9-0

1959-60: 9-0

1958-59: 5-4 (over .500 for good)

1955-56: 9-0

1947-48: 9-0

1938-39: 5-4 (over .500 for good)

The Dutchmen have never opened 0-9.

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 FORTY-TWO

With Wednesday’s loss, Speedy Claxton fell to 86-56 (.606) as head coach. That’s the fourth-best known winning percentage for a Hofstra coach through his first 142 games at the helm.

Butch van Breda Kolff I 105-37 (.739, 142nd game was the 16th game of his sixth season in 1960-61)

Frank Reilly 102-40 (.718, 142nd game was the 13th game of his sixth season in 1952-53) 

Paul Lynner 89-53 (.627, 142nd game was the seventh game of his sixth season in 1967-68) 

SPEEDY CLAXTON 86-56 (.606, 142nd game was the ninth game of his fifth season in 2025-26) 

Joe Mihalich 75-67 (.528, 142nd game was the ninth game of his fifth season in 2017-18) 

Tom Pecora 73-69 (.514, 142nd game was the 22nd game of his sixth season in 2005-06) 

Roger Gaeckler 72-70 (.507, 142nd game was the 10th game of his sixth season in 1977-78) 

Dick Berg 72-70 (.507, 142nd game was the third game of his sixth season in 1985-86) 

Jay Wright 71-71 (.500, 142nd game was the 29th game of his fifth season in 1998-99) 

Butch van Breda Kolff II 70-72 (.493, 142nd game was first game of his sixth season in 1993-94) 

Game no. 142 is a HUGELY momentous #Redundant one in school history, or at least mine. The 142nd game of Butch van Breda Kolff’s second tenure is FINALLY the first one with me as a student, while successor Jay Wright not only climbs out of last place but also moves to .500 in his 142nd game for the first time since his second game way back on Dec. 2, 1994. That was the night my wife and I went out on our first date! And HIS successor Tom Pecora climbs into sole possession of sixth place, his highest spot in these standings since the opening weeks of his tenure, by winning HIS 142nd game to move a career-high four games over .500. So I guess I can’t call them perpetual slackers anymore.

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.