HOW SWEEP IT IS! Thomas’ game-winner lifts Hofstra past Stony Brook to remain Long Island’s best

Tyler Thomas (23) releases game-winner as Hofstra completes season sweep of Stony Brook. (Photo by Matteo Bracco/Hofstra Athletics)

By Jason Dimaio (@JasonDimaio1)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Following a second-half collapse at Monmouth Saturday, Hofstra looked to erase any lingering scent of the letdown as it hosted Long Island rival Stony Brook for a second meeting in as many weeks with the Seawolves.

And for the second time in eleven days, Nassau came out on top against Suffolk.

In a game with a true, old-school rivalry feel, Hofstra and Stony Brook went down to the wire Thursday, with the hosts pulling out all the stops to erase a 13-point deficit on Tyler Thomas’ game-winning jumper with four-tenths of a second remaining to pluck a 72-71 victory from the jaws of defeat.

“I saw space on the baseline,” said Thomas, whose 26 points led Hofstra (12-10, 5-4 CAA) to a sweep of Stony Brook. “I just had to get the shot off. That’s all I can tell you. It’s a good feeling, especially because we won. We got the nasty taste out of our mouth from Monmouth, we needed this one bad.”

“If anyone deserved that shot to go in, it’s this kid,” Speedy Claxton added. “The work that he puts in on a daily basis, he deserves to make that shot. I’m extremely proud of him and happy for him.”

The Pride also got 17 points from German Plotnikov and a near-triple-double from Jaquan Carlos (11 points, 10 assists, 9 rebounds), and needed all the help it could get, especially in the first half. Stony Brook (11-11, 4-5 CAA) came out firing in the opening stanza, connecting on eight of its first 11 three-point attempts to quickly vanquish Hofstra’s early initiative with separate 13-4 and 11-3 runs. The Seawolves would ultimately shoot 57 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes en route to building a 41-31 lead at the intermission.

The tenor of the game remained the same coming out of the locker room until Hofstra began to string together buckets and stops on the defensive end. A conventional three-point play by Plotnikov, followed by the Belarus native splashing a triple on the Pride’s ensuing trip down the floor, brought the hosts back completely and gave the Pride a 59-58 lead, its first since a 14-13 edge early in the first half. Stony Brook responded with four straight to swing the pendulum back in its favor, setting the stage for Thursday’s thrilling conclusion.

Clinging to a slim 67-66 advantage, the Seawolves went up three on Aaron Clarke’s contested jumper at the end of the shot clock, forcing Claxton to go for a quick bucket at the other end. Hofstra got the score from Jacco Fritz, who drew a foul in the process but missed a free throw that would have leveled the score at 69-all. Following a pair of Stony Brook free throws and a Carlos layup, Hofstra again fouled in its own end, sending Clarke to the line for a 1-and-1 opportunity with seven seconds remaining.

Clarke missed the front end, and Dstone Dubar quickly secured the rebound. He instantly handed off to Thomas, who blitzed down the floor to drill his patented mid-range fadeaway. The 17-footer rattled in, sending the crowd and the Hofstra bench into a frenzy. Stony Brook’s desperation heave at the buzzer fell short, prompting massive fist pumps from a normally even-keeled Claxton.

“That’s a big-time win, and not just because it was Stony Brook,” he gushed. “We haven’t been playing our best basketball, and we lost a couple tough games here to start conference play. So to get this one and to finally have the ball go in our favor for once, it feels good.”

“I’m proud of my guys. Big win. We were down 10 going into halftime and we could have easily quit. Shots weren’t falling, (Stony Brook was) killing it from 3-point land, but this team didn’t quit. I’m extremely proud of them. They battled and fought that whole second half, and we never hung our heads, not for one second.”