Hofstra battles, falls short late against Iona

Jalen Ray led Hofstra with 20 points in season debut as Pride suffered narrow loss to Iona. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Jason Dimaio (@JasonDimaio1)

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — The third leg of the grueling nationwide tour that is the Hofstra non- conference schedule took place Tuesday, as the Pride fell short to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference preseason favorite Iona by the final of 82-74, bringing its record to 1-2.

Hofstra started the game a step behind Iona, as the Gaels quickly jumped to a 12-2 lead by the first media timeout of the game. Despite the slow beginning, the Pride maintained composure and did not fold, cutting Iona’s lead to six by halftime. Nelly Junior Joseph was not much of a factor in the first half for Iona, only playing six minutes due to foul trouble, but Tyson Jolly picked up the slack, scoring 11 of his game-high 21 points before the break. Aaron Estrada led the Pride with eight points in the opening stanza.

This game also saw the season debut of senior guard Jalen Ray, who had a quiet 6 points in the first half as he returned from a sprained ankle, but was sure to make his presence felt after the intermission. Ray was the focal point of the Pride offense, as he had a team high 20 points, 14 of which coming in the second half, and shot 6-of-8 overall from behind the arc.

The inside size of Iona was definitely felt by Hofstra, who struggled to score in the paint. Iona’s 10 blocked shots had the Hynes Athletics Center crowd on its feet every time Hofstra attacked the zone. Hofstra's shooting kept the Pride in the game, as Hofstra was within two points at the under-8 timeout in the second half and tied the score twice after that, but could not manage to ever take the lead. Heading into the final media timeout of the game, The Pride had back-to-back turnovers, which essentially sealed the game as Iona would close the game out. Head coach Speedy Claxton made it a point that the Pride's slow start to the game was the biggest detriment to the Pride Tuesday night. 

“We kind of spotted them a pretty good lead to start the game,” he conceded. “That was pretty much hard to overcome. We didn’t come to play from the start. I think we eventually picked it up, but that deficit was hard to come back from.”

Claxton’s counterpart, Rick Pitino, said this was his favorite win so far of this young season, praising Hofstra in the process. 

“That’s not a usual Hofstra team,” Pitino said. “That is a good Hofstra team, and I’d be very surprised if they don’t win 22 or 23 games.”

The acid test will not get any easier for Hofstra, who heads to Maryland Friday for a matchup with the 20th-ranked Terrapins, but this team showed it can hang with anyone so far. Now, it becomes a matter of closing out games, and Claxton insists the Pride is in good shape by and large.

“We’ve got a good team,” he said, reassuringly. “We definitely have one of the hardest non-conference schedules, but that’s by design. I’m not worried about it. We’re going to peak at the right time. It’s still early in the year, I’m not worried about these guys. I know I have a good group, and we’re new. There’s a lot of new faces in that locker room, and it’s going to take time to build that team chemistry.”

“This was J-Ray’s first game. We’ve gotta get in sync with him now. We kind of had it going, but now we’ve got to incorporate J-Ray into that mix and we’ve got to start all over, but we’ll be fine. We will be fine, mark my words. We’ll be fine. This is going to make us better when it’s all said and done, I promise you that.”