Supporting cast, hustle keys for Hofstra as Pride wins 13th straight

With Justin Wright-Foreman largely hampered, Eli Pemberton led Hofstra with 24 points as Pride won 13th-straight game in double-digit victory over UNCW. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

HEMPSTEAD, NY -- One by one, the signs continue to reveal themselves for Hofstra.

The latest involved finding a way to win with its transcendent scorer being rendered ineffective for most of the night, coupled with a gritty and resilient style that was not seen on the previous incarnations of the Pride roster under head coach Joe Mihalich.

What could go down as a special campaign in the annals of Hofstra basketball was furthered Thursday night, as the supporting cast of Justin Wright-Foreman found a way to pick up the slack for its superstar leader -- who had missed nine of his first eleven shots before willing his way to a rather pedestrian, by his standards, 19 points -- en route to a convincing 87-72 victory over UNCW, the Pride's 13th-straight triumph since a November 24 overtime loss to VCU dropped Long Island's premier college basketball program to 3-3 on the season.

"For a team that can score points like I think we can, it's really our defense that makes us a good team," Mihalich assessed after Hofstra (16-3, 6-0 CAA) earned its best-ever start in Colonial Athletic Association play behind 24 points from junior guard Eli Pemberton, normally the Robin to Wright-Foreman's Batman. "In the first half, they enjoyed playing against us. In the second half, I thought we did a much better job and made it harder for them to score. I'm proud of the defensive effort in the second half, I thought it was the reason why we won the game."

Hofstra, which allowed just 46 points in its CAA-opening rout of Delaware, and has held several others under 60 markers at various stretches of the season, clamped down over the final 20 minutes Thursday, turning a 42-41 halftime deficit against UNCW (7-12, 3-3 CAA) into a one-sided affair over the final stanza, conceding just 30 points the rest of the way. All told, after the visiting Seahawks took a seven-point lead with 2:58 remaining before halftime, the Pride immediately seized control with a 10-2 run and went on to outscore its opposition by a commanding 57-35 margin for the remainder of the contest against a team whose two CAA Tournament victories at Hofstra's expense in the past three seasons added a motivation for vengeance.

"This is definitely personal," Wright-Foreman said of the budding rivalry between the Pride and UNCW, which won its first of two consecutive CAA championships in 2016 over a Hofstra unit that had won the league's regular season crown. "This is another rivalry that we have going on, so it was just our job to come out and play with that intensity. We didn't come out to play in the first half, but we knew what we had to do in the second half. We went into the locker room, talked to each other, and we always say it's 0-0 going into the locker room. That just gives us more energy to come out and just play hard."

"We already knew the enemy in the first half," Pemberton added, citing the Pride's defensive inefficiency. "So, we adjusted."

Not only did Hofstra tighten the screws with the basketball not in its hands and as Wright-Foreman appeared out of sorts before finishing with 11 of the hosts' final 23 points over the last 7:15 of regulation, it also fought for the game in ways that will not reflect in the final score. The Pride turned a dozen UNCW turnovers into 21 points while controlling the ball well enough to register just seven miscues of its own, and supplemented that disciplined showing with twelve rebounds from Jacquil Taylor, while point guard Desure Buie padded his 11 points with seven assists and four steals in a remarkable two-way effort that underscored a handful of game-saving possessions.

"We talk a lot about the 50-50 plays, the plays that could go either way," Mihalich said. "I thought we got them in the second half. I thought Jacquil was terrific tonight. He outrebounded the kid (Devontae Cacok, UNCW's senior forward and the CAA's leading rebounder), he had twelve rebounds and his defense was good. He came up with some loose balls, he blocked some shots -- he had three blocked shots -- he and Danny (Dwyer) combined for 11 points and 15 rebounds."

"He's one of the guys that's done it, and Desure had four steals. I think he's in the Top 25 in the country in steals now. We're active, we're getting loose balls, and we're coming up with those 50-50 plays."

"When we get going and playing hard," Pemberton said, "I don't think anybody can stop us."

Owners of a full head of steam and a three-game advantage over reigning CAA champion Charleston, which visits Long Island Saturday afternoon in an increasingly pivotal battle for both sides, Hofstra is approaching its impending clash with the Cougars -- who lost on the road Thursday to a Northeastern team it defeated in last year's title game -- as a war in which the invaders will be playing with an added edge amid the two-headed monster of Grant Riller and Jarrell Brantley.

"We're going to see an angry team on Saturday," Mihalich cautioned. "We better be ready for that. They're the defending champs, the championship goes through them, the league goes through them. We're going to have to play really well on Saturday just to have a chance to win."