Hofstra’s guards, hot shooting run Pride past Bucknell for 4th straight win

 

Aaron Estrada’s 24 points extended Hofstra’s win streak Saturday as Pride defeated Bucknell. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — After close losses to Houston and Maryland led some to question whether Speedy Claxton may have been overzealous in comprising his first non-conference schedule, Hofstra’s rookie head coach was adamant that the Pride would weather the storm, not worried about its record or final scores.

Saturday’s finale to a four-game homestand offered a glimpse of the payoff in his convictions.

On the heels of a seesaw first half, Hofstra seized control late with an 11-1 run going into halftime, then used its guard play and efficient shooting to keep the pedal firmly on the accelerator in the final 20 minutes of an 88-69 victory over Bucknell, the fourth straight for the Pride as it capped a perfect first residency of the season at the Mack Sports Complex.

“We’ve grown a lot,” Claxton declared as Hofstra (5-4) placed four members of its backcourt, topped by Aaron Estrada’s 24 points. “During the Iona game, that was Jalen (Ray)’s first game back, so we had to kind of incorporate him into the offense. The chemistry wasn’t there, but that we’ve had him back for a couple of games, you can start to see the team building some nice chemistry, and that’s why we’re winning games.”

Ray added 12 points for the Pride while leading the team in rebounds for the second straight contest, with seven boards. Zach Cooks tallied 19 markers, and Omar Silverio chipped in with 16 of his own off the bench.

Hofstra opened the Saturday matinee by scoring the first eight points, but its lead soon evaporated in the midst of an 18-2 Bucknell run where the visitors looked to be getting anything they wanted offensively. Cognizant of the shift in momentum, Claxton inserted Abayomi Iyiola into the game on the other side of his called timeout, and the Arkansas transfer immediately paid dividends on the offensive glass. All told, while Iyiola may have mustered just eight points and a half-dozen caroms, his impact was valued far beyond any numbers indicated on a stat sheet.

“Bay was huge,” said Claxton. “He came in when our energy and effort was lacking, and that’s who he is. That’s what he brings to the table, and once he got into the game, he changed the ballgame completely. The last game, he was a bit rusty, but today, he was much better. We’re going to need him.”

“I think it was more us,” he added with regard to Hofstra’s first-half dropoff. “We stopped driving the basketball and we were settling for jumpers and the shots they wanted us to take, not the shots we want to take. Once we got back to doing what we do, it was a wrap after that.”

The Pride picked up where it left off at the intermission, quickly building its lead into double digits as Ray — who scored all of his points in the second half — and Silverio matched the tenor set by Estrada and Cooks in the opening stanza to space the floor and force Bucknell out to the perimeter more often in the closing minutes.

“We just play off each other,” Cooks said of the similar wavelength on which the backcourt played. “It’s good to have (where) if I’m off a night, Aaron could go off, J-Ray could go off, or Omar. It’s good to have two or three other guys who could score the ball with me.”

Hofstra now heads across the Long Island Expressway for its next affair, Wednesday night’s annual tilt with local rival Stony Brook, the projected America East Conference favorite with a veteran group in its own right who will provide a stout test to the cohesiveness that has stood the test of time in Nassau County.

“We’ve been together for quite some time now,” said Claxton. “We’ve had this group since July and it started from there. We knew offensively, we were going to be a force to be reckoned with, so in the first couple of weeks, we didn’t do any offense, actually. We did all defense. But I told these kids, I'm not worried about offense. We’re gonna be fine. We have weapons, but if we buy in on defense, we’re going to be a really, really special team. And to these kids’ credit, I think they’re finally starting to see that.”