Hofstra extends win streak to 14 with convincing victory over defending CAA champ Charleston

Eli Pemberton drives inside for two of game-high 26 points as Hofstra won 14th-straight Saturday against Charleston. (Photo by Vincent Simone/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

HEMPSTEAD, NY -- No less than a half-hour after Thursday's victory over UNCW was in the books, Joe Mihalich wasted little time preparing his Hofstra team to brace itself for the oncoming visit from College of Charleston, the defending Colonial Athletic Association champion that had just lost to Northeastern moments before the Pride walked off its home floor winners, stating that his players had "better be ready" for what he termed an angry team.

Two days -- and a handful of tense moments -- later, the coach's warning was heeded, and quite possibly, well enough to result in perhaps the most emphatic salvo in a season already loaded with one impressive statement after another.

Behind 26 points from Eli Pemberton, one of four Hofstra players in double figures, the Pride shook off a determined challenge from Charleston in the first half and did so again when its lead was trimmed to one point midway through the second stanza, ultimately pulling away from the Cougars to score an 86-72 triumph that maintained the hosts' status as the CAA's lone unbeaten program.

"I think the key to the game was our poise and composure," Mihalich remarked as Hofstra (17-3, 7-0 CAA) extended its winning streak to 14 consecutive games, a mark that would later become the longest active string in the nation after Michigan and Virginia -- the last two undefeated teams in Division I -- both lost hours apart from one another, with the Pride's win sandwiched in between the defeats suffered by the Wolverines and Cavaliers. "I've talked about it so many teams this year: When the going gets tough and we go through some tough times, a lot of players will think about losing. Our guys don't do that. They think about what they have to win, and I think that's what the good players do."

Even as Charleston (14-6, 3-4 CAA) began the game on a 7-0 run, the Pride remained focused on the task at hand, not rushing matters and letting the game play out in the opening minutes. In particular, a four-minute sequence in which Hofstra forced six Cougar turnovers led to a 13-0 run that gave the Pride the lead for good, turning a 12-6 deficit into a 19-12 advantage that would soon reach double digits before Grant Riller -- whose 24 points led the visitors in a losing effort -- nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to bring the margin on the scoreboard to a respectable eight points at the intermission.

Leading 42-34 entering the final 20 minutes of regulation, Hofstra withstood the expected challenge from last year's titleholders, bending but not breaking as Charleston drew within one point on three separate occasions, doing so for the final time with 10:38 on the clock when a Riller layup trimmed the cushion to 57-56. The Pride would respond with six straight points to extend its edge back to three possessions, and after a Cougar triple cut the lead to four, Hofstra effectively slammed the door with a 12-3 run to ensure its margin would shrink no lower than nine points for the remainder of a contest in which it shot 62 percent from the floor to remain two games up on second-place Northeastern in the conference standings.

"I think we're different this year," Mihalich said when assessing his team's response to Charleston's championship pedigree and muscle memory. "I think we're a different team. There's a different makeup, there's a different chemistry, there's a different vibe, and last year, we had a big lead, they came back and we let it slip away. This year, I don't think anybody felt like we were going to. We felt like we could still win the game."

With the first half of CAA play wrapping up next week, the Pride -- which swept its first trip of the league season away from home last week with a triple-overtime win at William & Mary before a gritty, come-from-behind victory at Elon two days later -- take to the road once again, playing each of its next three in enemy territory, starting Thursday at James Madison. Now the country's hottest team, Hofstra's coach is aware of what is at stake as the season rolls on, and in the wake of defeating a team he felt still dictated the path to a championship, he was proud of his own group for validating itself in the process.

"We talk about respect," Mihalich reflected, "and we know this: You have to earn your respect. And there was no reason for them to respect us until now. Hopefully, we've gotten to the point where people respect us."