Hofstra 81, College of Bill Lawrence 78 (Or: Our Own Personal Jenkins)

Because multiple views of two of the greatest clutch shots we've ever seen are more important than a Scrubs photo. Yes. This is serious stuff.

The passing of time has a way of embellishing the truth. Home runs travel farther, more tackles are broken on the way to the goal line, the fish get bigger as each year goes by.

But sometimes, the truth is better than the legend, and no tall tale anyone can ever muster up will match what actually happened at Hofstra Arena last night, when a transcendent player carrying his team to a magical season saved his best—so far—for his next-to-last home game.

Charles Jenkins hit a flat-footed 3-pointer just before the regulation buzzer to send the game into overtime and then drained a 35-footer as time expired in overtime to lift the Flying Dutchmen to their latest description-defying comeback victory, an 81-78 thriller over the College of Bill Lawrence in front of 2,378 euphoric fans.

“That’s as good as I’ve ever seen,” Mo Cassara said. “To go to overtime—when we didn’t put ourselves in a position to win—to hit one to go to overtime and then hit another one in overtime is as good as I’ve ever seen.”

Especially not in practice. “We have a drill at the end of practice when we have walkthroughs called ‘win the game’ and I’ve never made the shot at the buzzer,” Jenkins said with a laugh.

“We put the whole rack of balls in the half-court and then I throw the ball out and blow the whistle and give every guy a chance and we don’t leave until somebody hits their last-second shot,” Cassara said.

“Coach always gives me a hard time—he throws it down to the other end and gives me two seconds to make a shot,” Jenkins said.

He had plenty of time on both his shots Tuesday and as a result the Dutchmen will have plenty of time, relatively speaking, before their first CAA Tournament game. The win, coupled with George Mason’s rout of VCU (yay! We love you George Mason—no, not really) and Drexel’s loss to UNC Wilmington, not only catapulted the Dutchmen into a three-way tie for second with VCU and Old Dominion but also assured the Dutchmen a first-round bye.

Only the hardiest of souls (raises hand) thought a bye was possible after the tumult of last spring, but the Dutchmen will be resting and relaxing Friday as their quarterfinal opponent (please, Lord Jenkins, don’t be William & Mary) grinds out a first round win.

“I wouldn’t put anything past this group,” Cassara said. “I wouldn’t put anything past them.”

Who would after all the Dutchmen did to win their seventh game in which they came back from a double-digit deficit? The Dutchmen were outscored 36-11 over the span of almost an entire half—16:41, to be exact, between taking a 15-3 lead at the first media timeout of the game and falling behind 39-26 less than 90 seconds into the second half.

The Dutchmen squandered five-point leads with less than two minutes to play in regulation and less than three minutes to go in overtime. They shot an uncharacteristically poor 63 percent from the free throw line (17-of-27), their worst performance since Dec. 18 at Manhattan. William & Mary, meanwhile, was a sizzling 12-of-25 from 3-point land and 20-of-22 from the free throw line, including 14-of-14 in the second half and overtime.

Just seven players saw the court for the Dutchmen and the starting five of Jenkins, Mike Moore, Brad Kelleher, David Imes and Greg Washington played all but five minutes in the second half and overtime. Yet despite frittering away multiple leads, the quintet was almost perfect—the Dutchmen didn’t commit a single turnover in the second half and overtime—and put up boxscore-busting numbers.

Jenkins finished with 28 points (his final basket gave him 2,402 career points), four assists and two overtime blocks. Moore opened the game with three straight 3-pointers and had 25 points and eight rebounds. Kelleher put together his best game yet with nine points, seven assists, a career-high six rebounds and just one turnover in a career-high 42 minutes. Imes had his fifth double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Washington had five blocks, two steals, five rebounds and four blocks—huge contributions from the forwards since the Dutchmen didn’t play another big man.

“This is probably the one team I’ve been around in all my years of playing and coaching—our best talent is we never give up,” Cassara said. “This group just never thinks they’re going to lose the game.”

Everyone else’s faith was wavering when William & Mary went on a 9-1 run—off a 3-pointer and six free throws—to take a 69-66 lead with just over six seconds to play. But Jenkins performed his first miracle after he took the in-bounds pass from Greg Washington and stared down Kyle Gaillard, who briefly dropped his arms. Jenkins took advantage of the opening and hit the 3-pointer from well beyond the arc and William & Mary’s last-ditch shot fell short of the rim.

“Me and Mike’s motto is ‘hand down, man down,’” Jenkins said. “Once he put his hand down, I got a good look at the basket.”

It didn’t seem as if the Dutchmen would need another buzzer-beater to hang on in overtime when they opened the extra session with a 5-0 run. But once again the Tribe—the best and peskiest 3-13 team I have ever seen anywhere, and that is in no way damning with faint praise—crawled back and took a 76-75 lead on Quinn McDowell’s 3-pointer with 1:08 left.

Then Jenkins went into superhuman mode. He drove on three William & Mary defenders and somehow hit the leaning layup to give the Dutchmen a 77-76 lead before he blocked Brandon Britt’s layup on the other end. Kelleher grabbed the rebound and was fouled but hit just one free throw. Yves Jules fouled McDowell streaking for a wide-open layup and McDowell hit both free throws with 4.5 seconds to play.

Imes inbounded the ball to Jenkins, who raced up court, pulled up at 35 feet and fired over the outstretched arms of McDowell with less than a second left. “I have four seconds to get up the court, which is a lifetime,” Jenkins said. “I got a good look at the basket and I made it.”

With the buzzer still echoing, the ball hit nothing but net as the Arena went from silent to ear-splittingly loud in a split second. Jenkins turned, raced to the opposite foul line and flexed his arms as his teammates mobbed him and half-carried him, half-followed him into the Lions Den, where he made his now-trademark Dutch Dive before he was engulfed by students.

“I think I want to signature that,” Jenkins said with a wide grin. “If anyone else does it, that’s going to be something that they took from me.”

Not likely anyone will ever again do what Jenkins did last night, or match what he has done over his first 122 career games, or come close to doing what we imagine he’ll do over his final—how many games does he have left? Six? Seven? Twelve?

Someday, somebody will hear or read our recollections of this Jenkins guy and wonder if our memories aren’t of the big fish variety, if those two buzzer-beating 3-pointers weren’t actually a couple of 18-footers with half a minute left in a game that had absolutely no bearing on anything.

But we’ll know better. We’ll know the truth. We saw it.

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. College of Bill Lawrence, 2/15)

3: Charles Jenkins

2: Mike Moore

1: Brad Kelleher

SEASON STANDINGS

Charles Jenkins 69

Mike Moore 35

Greg Washington 23

David Imes 16

Brad Kelleher 7

Shemiye McLendon 5

Dwan McMillan 5

Yves Jules 1

Stephen Nwaukoni 1

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Hofstra 61, Delaware 58 (Or: I feel like chicken soup tonight)

Did you do this to me?!

Very sorry this is so late, but sometime between the end of the Flying Dutchmen’s 61-58 win over Delaware Saturday afternoon and the time I put my head to pillow in a truly crappy Howard Johnson’s early Sunday morning, I either got food poisoning (say it ain’t so Chick-Fil-A!) or the stomach flu and I’ve spent the last 48 hours becoming besties with my bathroom. Thank goodness my wife went down to Delaware with me because if I had to make the drive home by myself I’d probably still be in Brooklyn. That was an interesting ride home.

Anyway, it sucks to have to do five post-game thoughts for a game I actually covered, but as the saying goes, you can’t fight diarrhea. Or something like that. Here goes:

1.) Charles Jenkins was The Wolf when it mattered most. Jenkins had a quiet game by his standards—23 points, three rebounds, three assists, three turnovers, one steal—but scored the Flying Dutchmen’s last six pressure-packed points to keep Delaware from stealing a game it never led (seriously, I would love to know if that’s ever happened before—Hofstra leading wire-to-wire and winning by three). Jenkins drained a jumper with Devon Saddler in his face to extend the Dutchmen’s lead to 57-53. After Saddler’s layup made it a two-point game again, Jenkins bled the shot clock, drove the lane with less than five seconds to go, drew the foul from Delaware forward Jamelle Hagins and hit both shots to put the Dutchmen up four again. And for good measure, he blocked Saddler’s shot on the other end with nine seconds to go, grabbed the board, drew the foul and hit two foul shots to ice it. The Wolf. He solves problems.

“Everybody in the gym knew who was going to get the ball,” Jenkins said. “I’d been getting fouled early in the game and I really wasn’t getting rewarded for the phusical play, but at the end I really decided to go after the big man and not shy away.”

“We called a timeout, ran a play for Charles, he made a big-time jump shit and then we called another play that we executed with him driving to the basket and he made two big free throws,” Mo Cassara said. “That’s what All-Americans do. Makes me look like a good coach.”

2.) Before Jenkins’ transformation into The Wolf, the Dutchmen were carried by the trio of David Imes, Greg Washington and Mike Moore. Imes (six points, 12 rebounds) pulled down nine rebounds in the first half to spark a suffocating defensive performance by the Dutchmen (Delaware shot just 19.2 percent in the first half) and then hit two key jumpers in the first 10 minutes of the second half to quell mini-runs by Delaware. Washington had a big first half (nine points, three rebounds) that featured perhaps his niftiest basket ever—a spinning layup as the shot clock dwindled—before getting into foul trouble in the second half. And Moore had his trademark game, very quietly and with no fanfare netting 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting (including 2-of-4 from 3-point land) and pulling down five rebounds. We’re telling you, he’s Norman Richardson Jr.

3.) So how does a team lead wire-to-wire and only win by three? The Dutchmen’s youth and inexperience was on display as they nearly frittered away a handful of double-digit leads. The most telling sequence occurred just before the under eight timeout in the second half, when Stephen Nwaukoni stole the ball in the Delaware backcourt, dished to Shemiye McLendon…and then trotted over and gazed at Cassara as a suddenly pressured McLendon tried to save the ball from going out of bounds by firing it to Nwaukoni. Delaware ended up with the ball back and eventually capped the possession by hitting one of two free throws. A livid Cassara stared down Nwaukoni as he walked to the bench before he smashed his clipboard against the floor.

“I grabbed Stephen as we were walking to the locker room and I put my arm around him and I said ‘Listen, Stephen, I love you, our staff loves you and you’re going to get better and the best thing that you’re doing right now is you’re taking criticism and you’re handling it. You know you made a mistake, we talked about it, you went to the bench and you came back in and gave us some other minutes,’” Cassara said. “I’m real proud of that and that’s ultimately why our team is finding a way to win. We’re sticking together as a team because guys are willing to [handle] criticism, they’re willing to take responsibility for their mistakes and that’s the sign of a team. That’s what we’ve been preaching since last May.”

4.) Also indicative of the Dutchmen’s inconsistency and inexperience: A negative assist-to-turnover ratio (7/9) and a notable gap in the second half rebounding stats (Delaware pulled down nine offensive rebounds to just seven defensive boards for the Dutchmen). The good news, of course, is that it was just the fifth time this season the Dutchmen have had a negative assist-to-turnover ratio, only the second time since Puerto Rico and the first time they’ve managed to win a game with a negative ratio.

“I’m a little disappointed we only had seven assists, we didn’t share the ball as well as we need to, but we made plays when we had to,” Cassara said. “I thought our defensive intensity was great in the first half. Second half, we got a little lazy, a little tired and they really got to ever 50/50 ball. They had two, three chances at the basket. The games where we give up extra shots lke that—like we did against the Old Dominions and the Drexels—it’s really hard for us to win. So we have to really continue to work on that.”

5.) Hey, who cares, a win is a win. The Dutchmen flew to Georgia Tuesday, beat Georgia State Wednesday, flew home early Thursday, got on the bus early Friday afternoon and beat Delaware Saturday. Anyone anywhere in the CAA will take a 2-0 record through that stretch. And for good measure, the Dutchmen haven’t trailed in more than 78 minutes.

“We had two road games?” Jenkins asked. “Feels good. Most important is winning. I don’t really care where it is as long as we win.”

“I think for us to get out of this week with two wins is incredible—it’s an incredible testament to this team,” Cassara said. “The one thing we keep saying is we haven’t played our best basketball yet.”

The 2-0 week was especially valuable because it cemented the Dutchmen’s ability to control their own fate in the race for a bye. As long as they win two of their final three CAA games, the Dutchmen will be off Friday—an often-inconceivable thought during the chaos of last spring. They could cement a bye as early as tonight if they beat William & Mary and Drexel loses to UNC Wilmington.

“I’m very happy—thinking about a bye and having rest, waiting for teams to beat up on each other [and] for us to come on in and put more pressure on the team that just played the night before,” Jenkins said. “It’s definitely a good feeling. But we have three more games left and we just have to take care of business.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Delaware, 2/12)

3: Charles Jenkins

2: Mike Moore

1: David Imes

SEASON STANDINGS

Charles Jenkins 66

Mike Moore 33

Greg Washington 23

David Imes 16

Brad Kelleher 6

Shemiye McLendon 5

Dwan McMillan 5

Yves Jules 1

Stephen Nwaukoni 1

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Five pregame thoughts: Delaware

Hi. I'm in Delaware.

1.) A little different opening thought: I meant to post this yesterday, but got carried away with conferences that used to be real but are now fake and clips of hair metal acts that ruled my car during my senior year of high school. Anyway, with the Flying Dutchmen firmly entrenched among the top four in the CAA with four games to play, I thought it’d be a good idea to look at the standings through 14 games since the league expanded to 12 teams in 2005-06 and where those teams eventually ended up.

The news is good for the Dutchmen: Eighteen of the 20 teams to be in the top four in the CAA through 14 games have earned a bye. The only exceptions: Fourth-place Drexel in 2008-09 and fourth-place William & Mary in 2007-08. However, each of those squads were 9-5 and just one game ahead of a trio of teams tied for fifth place at 8-6 (ironically, in that it’s not ironic at all, Old Dominion surged from that group of 8-6 teams to earn the fourth and final bye in both years).

The Dutchmen, of course, are 10-4 and two games ahead of Drexel and James Madison. That is the second-biggest lead a fourth-place team has had over its nearest rival since expansion. In 2006-07, Drexel (10-4) had a three-game lead over George Mason.

And just to prove your good friend and mine Like Mitos—err, Mike Litos—isn’t the only one who can come up with baseball analogies on the eve of spring training: Any combination of Dutchmen wins and James Madison losses equaling two will ensure the Dutchmen can’t be beaten out by the Dukes. The magic number to be clear of Drexel is likely three, since the Dragons still have to play VCU and can eke out a tiebreaker over the Dutchmen if they beat VCU and the Rams end up winning the league (convoluted, I know).

2.) As for the game today: Charles Jenkins got hot on Wednesday night in Atlanta, and the odds are very good he will be positively scorching this afternoon. Jenkins loves facing the Blue Hens, against whom he scored 57 points in two games last year and against whom he is averaging 22.8 points on 46.8 percent shooting in six career games. Remove from the equation one of the worst games of his career—the 4-for-24 shooting performance in a win over Delaware at the end of Jenkins’ epic slump in January 2009—and Jenkins is shooting 57.1 percent in the other five games. And he REALLY likes the rims at the Bob Carpenter Center: Jenkins is averaging 24 points on 55.3 percent shooting in three games in Delaware.

3.) The Dutchmen, more than most teams, need everyone to chip in to win—they’re 15-1 when three players score in double figures and unbeaten when anyone other than Jenkins and/or Mike Moore hits multiple 3-pointers—and I’m playing a pure hunch by forecasting that Shemiye McLendon will be the guy who steps up and becomes one of those key extra contributors. He’s looked like a freshman lately, playing just 23 minutes combined the last two games and committing three turnovers apiece in his last two road games, but he’s too unflappable to stay in a funk for long. He’s had multiple 3-pointers just twice in his last 14 games, but expect to see him drain at least a couple from beyond the arc today.

4.) This looks to be a good matchup for David Imes and Greg Washington, who will take on a Delaware front court that features 6-foot-7 sophomore Kelvin McNeil and 6-foot-8 sophomore Jamelle Hagins as starters. Hagins leads the CAA in blocked shots, so Washington’s outside shooting could come in handy. Washington hasn’t dominated Delaware like Jenkins, but he’s averaged 6.8 points (on 11-of-23 shooting), 5.3 rebounds and 2.3 rebounds in his last four games against the Blue Hens after going scoreless in both contests as a freshman. Imes has begun stirring the last four games, shooting an even 50 percent (13-of-26) while scoring at least eight points three times and displaying even more effort and aggression under the boards than usual.

5.) The Dutchmen and the Blue Hens are going in opposite directions, as so often seems to be the case since the programs exited an America East that had turned into their own playground, but don’t expect this game to be the rout the Dutchmen have been waiting to enjoy for weeks. Delaware has lost four in a row, but all have been by 10 or less and they took CAA co-leader VCU to double overtime Wednesday. In addition, 10 of the Blue Hens’ 14 CAA games have been decided by 10 or less. If this one is tight late, keep an eye on the performances at the free throw line. Delaware shot less than 65 percent from the line in its last three games while the Dutchmen have shot at least 70 percent from the line in 20 straight games.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

In which I see red over the idea I made up the ECC, offer yet another history lesson to prove I didn’t, and find a way to mention the Delaware game

What's better: "I saw red, when Litos accused me of making up the ECC, I saw red..." or "If Delaware and Drexel left they'd be impossible to replace..." or "I don't think we're gonna get an automatic bid anymore?"

It’s not easy bleeding blue, white and yellow. In addition to the fact that nobody should ever bleed blue, white and yellow, we root for a school that hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament in nine seasons and has reached it just four times as a Division I member. The best team we ever had missed the big dance in, umm, colorful fashion. Our totally awesome nickname was replaced by something straight out of a focus group meeting gone terribly wrong.

The toughest thing, though, is rooting for a school that seemingly has no past. Oh, we know better. We know Hofstra basketball didn’t begin with the move to the CAA in 2001, or when the America East renamed itself after the 1995-96 season, But there aren’t many of us, and there are more of THEM—the uppity and the spoiled who root for schools with easily traceable lineages and condescendingly look down at those of us whose histories contains expired acronyms such as ECC and NAC.

For example, and I’m picking this school completely at random—and by completely at random, I mean TOTALLY ON PURPOSE—a VCU grad can tell someone that his school hasn’t always been in the CAA, it was in the Sun Belt back in the ‘80s. And if that someone is a real college basketball fan, and not a Duke fan, he’ll know what the Sun Belt is and what it was and will nod approvingly, knowing VCU has existed in some form for more than a generation.

The VCU fan will be content, because he won’t have to sit there and convince someone that there was actually a conference called the Metro and that VCU was a part of it after it left the Sun Belt and before it joined the CAA. Because that would suck, trying to convince people you’re not just making crap up off the top of your head.

I would know. The other day, The Braintrust was convening and riffing on the supremely awesome return of “Wayne’s World” to Saturday Night Live last week by figuring out where the current CAA members were 20 years ago this winter, back when I was rockin’ the mullet, cruising the streets of northwest Connecticut with Warrant’s “Cherry Pie” in the tape deck and flirting with freshmen girls who had no idea what a dork I was the previous three years (if you think any word of that is false, you don’t know me at all).

Someone in The Braintrust—I won’t name him, except to say that his Pig Latin name is Like Mitos, and that I’m pretty sure in 1991 he was fretting over the imminent name change of SunBeltHoops.com to MetroHoops.com, planning to invest in the new TANDY he just saw at Radio Shack (Google it Crain!) and wondering what the hell a .com was—responded to the message by writing he wasn’t sure where Hofstra was in the early ‘90s because he “…never know[s] when Jerry is making up a fictional conference or not.”

Well Mr. Mitos, here’s your answer and what do you have to say now?! (Just ignore the weird URL and web design straight out of 1995, it’s not easy preserving the history of a conference that croaked during the early days of the Clinton presidency)

The ECC was alive and, umm, well, it was alive 20 years ago this winter. The 1990-91 season was the last one in the ECC for Delaware and Drexel, each of which bolted at the end of the school year for the North Atlantic Conference—that’s not a made-up conference either, Mitos, that’s the precursor to the America East!—as well as the last year in which the ECC had an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The defections of Delaware and Drexel left the ECC—coming on the heels of Bucknell, Lafayette and Lehigh all exiting for the Patriot League following the 1989-90 season—short of the membership requirements for the automatic bid. The conference wheezed along through the 1993-94 school year, though it played only two tournaments in that span—Towson beat Hofstra to win the first final ECC championship game in 1991-92 before Hofstra won the last final ECC championship game two years later; Mitos probably thinks I’m making all this up—before finally splintering apart for good. Hofstra joined the NAC for the 1994-95 school year and has never again had to worry about being in a league without an automatic bid.

The ECC may be long gone, but it lives on in our hearts (oh hello Twitcon!) and some of us still get unnaturally excited about crowning a mythical champion every year. OK, fine, I’m the only one, but the ECC is relevant this weekend, with Hofstra heading to—oh my it all ties together perfectly!—Delaware to finally take on the Blue Hens for the first time this season.

This is a pivotal game for the Dutchmen, who can take another big step towards locking up a first round bye in the CAA Tournament by dispatching of the skidding Blue Hens as well as stay in the running for at least a share of their second straight mythical ECC championship! I present to you the faux race, because I know your day isn’t complete without knowing these “standings,” as well as the remaining ECC games for each school.

ECC "Standings"

Drexel 5-1 (Towson)

Hofstra 4-1 (Delaware 2x)

Delaware 2-2 (Hofstra 2x. Rider in BracketBuster, Towson)

Towson 1-5 (Delaware, Drexel)

(I should alert the Towson publicity staff of this, let them know the Tigers aren’t winless in conference in my universe)

The Dutchmen basically have to sweep Delaware since Drexel only has a game left with one-win (see what I did there?) Towson. Also, there is an uneven number of games because, remarkably, all of the ECC schools in the CAA played at least one former ECC school during the non-conference schedule. And everyone except Towson played Rider.

This could have gotten really out of hand if I counted Drexel’s game against St. Joseph’s, Delaware’s game against American and Towson’s game against LaSalle, but I don’t associate those schools—all of which left the ECC in the early 1980s—with DD-era ECC, or near DD-era ECC. Or something like that.

That Drexel beat Saint Joseph’s, and would therefore win the mythical ECC championship by half a game over Hofstra if both teams win out, had nothing to do with my decision. Or did it? When you bleed blue, white and yellow, and Charles Jenkins is still three weeks away from three glorious days in which he will lead Hofstra to the NCAA Tournament, you’ll take what you can get. Even if you have to make it up.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Hofstra 79, Georgia State 68 (Or: The night Charles Jenkins shot the lights out in Georgia)

I'm posting the poster to a movie I've never seen because even I have my limits and even I won't post a video for the song "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia." Good God. That was some awful, awful crap. And I know crap!

Since New Year’s Day, the Flying Dutchmen have routed George Mason, which has since surged to the top of the CAA standings and into the top 30 of the RPI, and come back from double-digit deficits to beat James Madison and Northeastern in front of frenzied crowds at home.

Compared to those seismic wins, last night’s 79-68 win over Georgia State appears downright pedestrian. The Dutchmen gave up the first basket of the game, then led for the final 38-plus minutes and led by at least six points for the final 35-plus minutes. Georgia State mounted a couple surges after falling behind by 18 less than seven minutes into the second half, but the outcome of the game was never really in doubt.

Yet as far as Mo Cassara is concerned, the win matches up to any other one the Dutchmen have enjoyed this season. And who are we to argue with him?

“It’s one of the biggest wins of the year for us,” Cassara said via phone from Atlanta. “We’re on the road, they’ve won two in a row, they’ve beaten VCU and James Madison there, they had Old Dominion beaten there. They’re playing well, they’ve got great athletes and they’re very, very good at home. For us to be able to go in there and execute the way we did—offensively and defensively, other than a little stretch where we got tired in the second half—is a credit to our team and where we’re headed.”

Where they are headed, barring the Wilpon family suddenly deciding to donate to Hofstra athletics, is the top four in the CAA and the first bye for the Flying Dutchmen since 2006-07. The Dutchmen’s second straight win following a three-game losing streak, coupled with James Madison’s comeback win over Drexel, gave the fourth-place Dutchmen (10-4) a two-game lead over both schools with four conference games left.

The Dutchmen really have a three-game lead on James Madison thanks to their win in Hempstead. And if Mason and VCU remain 1-2, and if Drexel loses to VCU Feb. 23, then the Dutchmen will have the tiebreaker over the Dragons by virtue of their 1-2 record against the top two. In addition, the Dutchmen’s final four opponents all have losing CAA records while James Madison plays Mason, VCU and Old Dominion.

“The way we play, we’re not going to blow anybody out, we’re not going to run by anybody,” Cassara said. “Whomever we play, it’s going to be a challenge.”

The Dutchmen did look ready to blow out Georgia State for much of Wednesday night thanks to a balanced scoring attack, a sizzling team-wide performance from outside and a renaissance performance by Charles Jenkins. The Dutchmen shot better than 50 percent (28-of-55) for the second straight game, were 9-of-18 from 3-point land and had four players in double figures.

As usual, it was Jenkins who led the way. He had 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting (his second-best shooting percentage of the season, minimum 15 attempts) to go along with five rebounds, four steals, two assists, one block and just one turnover in 35 minutes. He also drew multiple fouls as he began his drives at the top of the key.

Not bad for someone who was feeling sick most of the night and entered the game fresh off his worst outing in two years as well as in the midst of a four-game stretch that qualified as something resembling a slump (20.5 ppg on 45.3 percent shooting).

“Little under the weather and a little beaten up, it’s that time of year, everybody’s got aches and bangs and bruises,” Cassara said. “He wasn’t feeling great all game [but] he got 28 and made some big shots. Thought he did a great job, he didn’t force anything, he really played the way that has made him so successful. He was willing to share the ball and did a great job and really was the leader on the court and on the bench and in the locker room. We’re in the position we are because of his leadership.”

Greg Washington, Brad Kelleher and Mike Moore also scored in double figures as the Dutchmen improved to 6-0 when at least four players reach 10 points. Washington had his own resurgence on both ends of the floor in scoring 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting while blocking five shots for the third time in six games and recording two steals for the fifth time in seven games, all in 37 minutes—his most in a regulation contest this year.

Kelleher scored 10 points and hit both 3-point attempts—the Dutchmen are now 7-0 when he drains multiple threes—while setting a season-high in assists (eight) and committing just one turnover for the second straight game. In his last four games, Kelleher has 18 assists and just three turnovers while shooting 6-of-11 from 3-point land.

“I think he’s getting a little more comfortable with what he’s trying to do [and] the guys are getting a little more comfortable with him,” Cassara said. “He played at his pace and did a great job tonight. If he can have those kind of lines—make a couple threes, handle the ball, not turn it over and ultimately run the team—we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”

Jenkins, Kelleher and Yves Jules (2-for-3) were a combined 7-of-9 from beyond the 3-point line, which made up for off nights from Moore (12 points) and Shemiye McLendon (a combined 2-of-9 on 3-pointers and 5-for-19 overall).

“One of the things I’m really proud of is we kept Greg Washington on the court for 30 minutes—he gets five blocks, makes a couple baskets and he played his ass off tonight, he and David Imes really competed around the basket,” Cassara said. “Brad Kelleher had another solid game for us and Yves Jules gave us a great lift. We’re just finding a different body every night.”

The Dutchmen were outrebounded 39-28 and barely had more defensive rebounds (20) than Georgia State had offensive rebounds (18). But they had seven of their eight offensive rebounds in the second half and Imes and Washington each rebounded Hofstra misses before Imes finally drew the foul on a pivotal sequence after the Panthers pulled within six with under four minutes to play. Imes (who had eight points and six rebounds in 30 minutes before fouling out) hit both free throws and the Dutchmen were never threatened again.

“We huddled as a staff and said ‘We’ve got to tell those guys that’s a winning play,’” Cassara said. “A couple missed shots, hang in there, hang in there, get a rebound, take shots, get to the free throw line when they were making a little bit of a run. That’s a winning play and we talk about that all the time.”

Cassara isn’t much for talking all the time about where the Dutchmen could be headed, but with last week’s crisis in the rearview mirror and a winning streak officially underway, he couldn’t help but gaze ahead at the growing possibility that this team held together by duct tape and saliva will enjoy a day off three weeks from tomorrow and have a far better shot at making a deep CAA Tournament run as a result.

“Hey, we’re 10-4 and we put ourselves in good position and Drexel lost, so we’ve given ourselves a couple games lead,” Cassara said. “I wouldn’t put anything past this group. Amazing accomplishment.”

3 STARS OF THE GAME (vs. Georgia State, 2/9)

3: Charles Jenkins

2: Greg Washington

1: Brad Kelleher

SEASON STANDINGS

Charles Jenkins 63

Mike Moore 31

Greg Washington 23

David Imes 15

Brad Kelleher 6

Shemiye McLendon 5

Dwan McMillan 5

Yves Jules 1

Stephen Nwaukoni 1

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Five halftime thoughts: Georgia State

1.) Well, so much for grinding it out. The Flying Dutchmen are red-hot from outside and in fact have hit more 3-pointers (8-of-12) than 2-pointers (6-of-16). Brad Kelleher and Yves Jules each have two 3-pointers, which means we win! Go home people! Kelleher, Jules and Charles Jenkins are all 2-for-2 while Mike Moore is 2-for-4. The only long-distance shooter having a tough time is Shemiye McLendon, who is 0-for-2 from beyond the arc and 0-for-4 overall.

2.) Very impressive balance thus far for the Dutchmen with five players scoring at least six points and eight players playing at least seven minutes. Jenkins leads the way with 10 points and seems to be back in Wolf mode: Not only is he 3-of-4 from the field, but he’s also drawn at least three fouls by creating contact just inside the perimeter.

3.) Brad Kelleher is having a second straight outstanding game with six points, five assists and just one turnover. Jules, too, has been really impressive and hit the two 3-pointers that bookended five straight points by Georgia State and kept the Panthers from getting closer than six. He seems to be in the midst of the sophomore surge that Nathaniel Lester and Greg Washington each enjoyed in February two years ago (hmm I smell a story idea).

4.) The Dutchmen might be on the verge of finally producing that lopsided CAA victory that has eluded them all season, but they won’t get it without tightening up on the boards. Georgia State is outrebounding the Dutchmen 20-12 and have already pulled down nine offensive rebounds. The Panthers are the type of team that gets more dangerous the longer it hangs around and the Dutchmen need to keep those second chances to a minimum to get out of Atlanta with the comfortable victory.

5.) Kind of the same thing, but it’s been a long day so forgive me: The Dutchmen need to keep the Panthers at arm’s length. The last time they didn’t have to sweat out a win was way back on Jan. 12, when the Dutchmen led Towson wire-to-wire in a 74-60 win. Their last four victories have all required frantic second half comebacks. Finish this one off, get the little-used reserves some run and get some much-needed rest with a flight coming up tomorrow Delaware awaiting on Saturday.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.

Five pre-game thoughts: Georgia State

1.) From a logistical perspective, this game has scared the hell out of me since the schedule was released—the longest trip of the CAA season, coming in midweek, at the start of a stretch of four roadies in five games once classes have already resumed. And that was before the Flying Dutchmen began auditioning for the remake of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” If you need a reminder why I was quivering with fear long before the Winter from Hell, remember the last time Hofstra visited Georgia State: The Panthers routed the Dutchmen, 76-55, on the final Wednesday of the regular season two years ago, a loss that ended up costing the Dutchmen a tournament bye. Fortunately for the Dutchmen, the trip to Atlanta was an uneventful one and they’ve had more than 24 hours to prepare and relax.

2.) From a basketball perspective, Georgia State games always scare the hell out of me. The Panthers have yet to escape the bottom half of the CAA nor finish with a .500 league record in their six seasons in the league and, at 5-8 and in eighth place, aren’t likely to end either streak this season. But the Panthers are always unpredictable—this season alone they’ve beaten VCU and James Madison and had Old Dominion down by three in the final minute before falling—and always gel during the season’s waning days and make life hellish for someone. The Panthers, who have won their last two games over UNC Wilmington and Towson, are 8-8 in CAA games played after Feb. 1 the last two-plus years, have won a tournament game in three of the previous five years and lost in the first round by a point the other two times (including against the Dutchmen last year). Yup. Scary.

3.) Charles Jenkins and Greg Washington are the only Dutchmen to have ever faced Georgia State. Jenkins scored 53 points in the Dutchmen’s back-to-back wins over the Panthers last year and is averaging 20.5 points, 3.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in four career contests. Washington scored the game-winning basket against the Panthers (off a Jenkins pass) with less than 20 seconds left in the CAA Tournament opener and is averaging 5.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in the four games.

4.) The Dutchmen will need both players to be at their best tonight. Jenkins was oddly out of sync all day Saturday, when he missed a career-high five free throws and failed to pull down a rebound for only the second time in the last two seasons, and was generally kept in check the previous three games by VCU, Drexel and George Mason. The Wolf must appear tonight. Washington, who was scoreless against Drexel and Mason, had a much-needed eight-point effort while providing his usual stellar defense. Washington will be essential in shutting down Georgia State’s best player, 6-foot-10 junior Eric Buckner.

5.) Every game at this point in the season is a grind-it-out affair, but this one—on the road in a just-win-baby scenario—really fits the mold. Georgia State is holding opponents to just 32.3 percent shooting beyond the 3-point arc, so Brad Kelleher, Shemiye McLendon and perhaps Yves Jules will have their hands full trying to provide the couple 3-pointers that assure the Dutchmen of victory (hey the trends never lie!). The Dutchmen’s fundamental strengths will come in handy tonight: They’re shooting 76.9 percent from the free throw line as opposed to just 60.6 percent for Georgia State. Don’t be surprised at all if the free throws are the difference between a happy flight home and an unhappy one.

Email Jerry at defiantlydutch@yahoo.com or follow Defiantly Dutch at http://twitter.com/defiantlydutch.