Hofstra reaffirms its identity as CAA contender with lockdown of UNCW

Speedy Claxton and Hofstra have gained traction as Pride’s defense has yielded 6-2 start to CAA play. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Defense wins championships.

It is usually dismissed as coachspeak and a tired old adage, but in the Colonial Athletic Association, where dynamic backcourts more often than not create potent offenses, sometimes the best firepower comes from a strong line of artillery to combat it.

Hofstra learned that firsthand last March, when — less than a week after forcing 28 turnovers against a Charleston team that has now risen to the penthouse of the CAA behind the backing of an exemplary one-loss start to a season boosted by a national ranking — it surrendered 55 first-half points to Pat Kelsey’s Cougars in a quarterfinal loss that was almost never a close game for the Pride. Since the calendar flipped from December to January, Speedy Claxton has placed a greater emphasis on his team’s defense through this, his second season at the helm of his alma mater. The results have paid off over the first six games of 2023, as only once has a Hofstra opponent scored more than 65 points, and perhaps never more handsomely than in Thursday’s decisive 70-46 victory over a UNC Wilmington outfit that — even in some of its leaner years — still managed to look more than competitive inside the Mack Sports Complex.

“We need to guard like that,” Claxton said Thursday, after Hofstra limited the visiting Seahawks to just 16 second-half points, the lowest opposing team point total in a half of a conference game since 2006. “If we guard like that every game, we’re going to be a hard team to beat. We know defense wins championships and if we want to win a championship, we’re going to have to do it on the defensive end. Our guys, they believe in it now, and they go out there and play D.”

In an offense that features a pair of gifted and willing scorers in reigning CAA Player of the Year Aaron Estrada and sharpshooting Sacred Heart transfer Tyler Thomas, the presence of a strong defense only emboldens the monster that is the Pride’s transition game. But what has taken root in recent weeks to support an uptempo attack that ranks as the second-most efficient offense in the CAA per KenPom is a defense that falls comfortably within the top half of the national rankings, let alone third-best in the conference behind Charleston and the UNCW team that looked anemic and overmatched against Hofstra’s pressure Thursday, one that solves the puzzle and unlocks the potential for the Pride to shine in all facets of the game.

“It gives us a lot of opportunity because if we get stops, we can run,” Estrada said of the defensive exploits. “I feel like we’re a great transition team, like, we get whatever we want when we’re running in transition, so that opens up a lot of opportunities for us when we guard like that.”

“I’ve heard that before,” a grinning Claxton quipped in response.

But for as resilient as Hofstra has been defensively, the guard play — a longstanding hallmark on Long Island since the Jay Wright regime — continues to earn well-deserved merit. Estrada and Thomas are just the latest in a litany of backcourt pairings — from Claxton himself and Norman Richardson to Carlos Rivera and Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio to Charles Jenkins, Juan’ya Green to Brian Bernardi, Justin Wright-Foreman to Eli Pemberton, Desure Buie to Jalen Ray — that not only complement the team game, but also bring out the best in one another simultaneously.

“I think me and (Estrada) have a good dynamic,” Thomas declared. “We kind of balance each other out. We share the ball, we’re both unselfish, I try to find A when I have the ball, he tries to find me. Sometimes, it just happens that way.”

“He usually starts us off with our first five or ten points, every game,” Estrada said, breaking into a wide smile. “I guess teams probably see that, but it’s good to have somebody by your side just to take the pressure off of myself.”

At the end of the day, though, sometimes the best offense, even with talent the likes of Estrada and Thomas, is simply a good defense that sets new peaks every night and borders on exceptional. Following last Saturday’s win over Delaware, point guard Jaquan Carlos insisted Hofstra was not at its best, but would be when the CAA tournament arrived on the schedule. Claxton was more pragmatic assessing his team’s approach and recent form, but did hint that the Pride was on the precipice of hitting its optimum setting.

“We’ve grown a lot,” he admitted. “We’re getting there, we’re close. Now it’s just gotta be consistent. We’ve got to be consistent every game. This is who we need to be if we want to win a championship. That was Hofstra basketball.”