Hofstra makes short work of Hampton for 9th straight win

Aaron Estrada led Hofstra with 21 points as Pride soundly defeated Hampton for ninth straight win. (Photo by Lee Weissman/Newsday)

By Jason Dimaio (@JasonDimaio1)

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Hofstra entered the fourth of its five-game, 11-day stretch with arguably the most momentum of any team in the Colonial Athletic Association Thursday against Hampton, and perhaps the biggest objective for the Pride was to avoid a potential trap game.

Mission accomplished.

Behind 21 points from Aaron Estrada and a complementary 13 markers from Tyler Thomas, Hofstra had all the offense it would need to match a staunch defense that limited Hampton to just 23 percent shooting and just 17 first-half points in a commanding 73-43 rout of the Pirates inside the Mack Sports Complex.

“Great job by the boys,” Speedy Claxton said as Hofstra won its ninth straight contest and secured no worse than a second-place finish in the CAA standings. “They came out and played the right way from beginning to end. We took it to them and there was no letup.”

“We wanted to pick them up in the half-court and really guard them. They’re really good at getting to the basket, so it was a big paint protection game for us. We wanted to keep them out of the paint.”

Hofstra (21-8, 14-2 CAA) not only kept Hampton out of the paint, it also made life difficult for the Pirates on each offensive possession without breaking a sweat. The Pride led wire-to-wire for a third consecutive game and eighth time this season, and enjoyed a comfortable 45-17 cushion at halftime. The second stanza was more of the same for the hosts, turning up the defensive intensity by registering 10 steals on a night where Hampton became the fifth straight team the Pride held under 60 points.

“I think we’re just staying well-connected and we’re preparing well,” Estrada remarked. “Knowing guys’ tendencies, knowing what they like to do, what they don’t like to do, I feel like all that is leading to our success on the defensive end.”

“Like I keep saying: Offense wins games, defense wins championships,” Claxton reiterated. “We want to be known as a really good defensive team, and to these kids’ credit, they’re locked in. They’re locked into the game plan, they try to get a stop on every possession.”

Hofstra controls its destiny over the final week of the regular season, with rematches against teams in Stony Brook and Northeastern still awaiting the Pride to close its conference schedule. Although his team’s magic number to clinch the CAA championship is two, Claxton is well aware of what is at stake in the final strides of league play. That said, he eschews much of the chatter surrounding playoff implications, instead preferring to go about their business on the floor.

“These guys are focused,” he stated. “It’s tunnel vision. There’s light at the end of the tunnel, but we’re just going to be focused one game at a time and just take it day by day.”

“We try not to play the scoreboard. We want to build good habits here down the stretch and have some consistent play on both sides of the basketball. Whether it’s defense or offense, we want to be consistent. We don’t look at the scoreboard, we go out there and try to get a stop on every possession or a score on every possession.”