Hofstra erases 15-point deficit to win season opener going away

Justin Wright-Foreman's 20 points led all scorers as Hofstra overcame 16-1 deficit to defeat Mount St. Mary's in season opener. (Photo by Vincent Simone/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Vincent Simone (@VTSimone)

HEMPSTEAD, NY -- Justin Wright-Foreman hoped his senior season would present an opportunity to become a more vocal leader. 

He just didn’t expect that desire to be tested so suddenly.

Hofstra kicked off its 2018-19 season Friday on the back end of a sold-out doubleheader after the women’s team fell earlier in the evening, and for a while, it appeared the men’s team would share the same fate.

The Pride experienced what can only be described as a “this really can’t be happening” start, as an inexperienced Mount St. Mary’s squad – picked last of ten in the Northeast Conference preseason coaches’ poll and three days removed from a 105-55 drubbing at NC State – jumped out to an improbable 12-0 lead.

The Mount extended its advantage to 16-1 with 12:24 on the clock in the first half, but that 15-point lead would prove to be its high water mark for the evening. Spurred on by Wright-Foreman, junior guard Eli Pemberton and newly-added Penn transfer Dan Dwyer, the Pride pulled off an impressive about-face to take a 31-28 advantage into halftime.

“I just know this group of guys that we have,” said Pemberton, who coolly claimed there wasn’t a moment of panic through that horrid start. “I know these guys got my back and I’ve got theirs, and that’s why I wasn’t worried at 16-1. I kept the same face the whole time. I just knew.”

“We just believed in ourselves the whole way through,” Wright-Foreman added. “They had us down 16-1 and all we did when we came to the bench was tell each other we have to stay positive and stay optimistic through the whole thing.”

Hofstra carried its momentum through the break, kicking off the second half on a 15-7 run. A later 21-5 Pride swing pushed the decision beyond all doubt as Hofstra’s lead ballooned to 67-48 with 8:18 remaining.

“I don’t know if we’ve ever had a rougher start than that,” head coach Joe Mihalich said. “I thought the story was that we kept our poise, that we still believed in ourselves. We knew that we could overcome that, that we could – possession by possession – win the battle and swim back. We did, and I’m really proud of our guys for keeping their poise and their composure.”

That poise was evident in Hofstra’s second half shooting. The Pride rebounded from a 36.7 percent effort in the first half to connect on 53 percent of their attempts in the latter stanza.

Wright-Foreman enters this season with lofty expectations both publicly and personally. The owner of a 24.4 point-per-game average a season ago – good for fifth in the nation – Wright-Foreman is already squarely in the public eye as one of the premier scoring talents in all of college basketball. Friday’s season-opener just happened to provide the senior with an opportunity to test his leadership skills as well.

“He knows he’s a confident guy; he’s the most confident guy I’ve ever coached,” Mihalich said of Wright-Foreman. “He knew we’d be okay. Just his body language and the way he acted, it’s contagious and the guys knew it. He’s the guy we look to.”

Wright-Foreman capped the evening with a well-rounded line of 20 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Pemberton and redshirt junior point guard Desure Buie supported their captain with 18 points apiece, with Buie tacking on five assists of his own.

Sophomore Jalen Gibbs led the Mount St. Mary’s attack for the second time in as many games. The Drake transfer capped the night with a game-high 21 points. Graduate guard and Texas Southern transfer K.J. Scott added 14, while redshirt freshman Nana Opoku hit double-figures for the first time in his career with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

Hofstra continues a packed start to the season with a quick trip to Marshall on Sunday, after which the Pride will meet North Carolina A&T and visit Maryland all within a week.