By Jon Wagner (@JonathanJWagner)
Special to Daly Dose Of Hoops
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — In terms of significance, the Hofstra Pride have certainly had much bigger victories. But no Hofstra win had ever come by a larger margin than the Pride’s 92-23 throttling of the Division III Old Westbury Panthers at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Wednesday night.
Hofstra’s three top scorers – senior guard Biggie Patterson and freshman guard Jaeden Roberts (17 points each), as well as senior guard Cruz Davis (15 points) – each scored more than Old Westbury (1-8) managed in either half.
Leading 8-5 early, the Pride (7-4) ended the opening frame on an overwhelming 39-5 surge to lead, 47-10, at halftime.
It only got worse for the Panthers from there, as Hofstra – even with its bench playing most of the second half – kept pouring it on until a driving layup by junior guard A.J. Wills with 41 seconds left closed the scoring and provided a historic difference.
That bucket gave the Pride its most lopsided win ever, eclipsing (by one point) a 114-46 Hofstra thrashing of Division III St. Joseph’s (Long Island), one year and four nights earlier.
Although the opponent nicknames were the same, the Pride (quite expectedly) had a far easier time than in its prior game, when Hofstra – which next travels to Syracuse on Saturday – pulled off a seven-point upset road win over the Pittsburgh Panthers on Sunday, as part of a quirky schedule that included the Pride’s second non-Division I foe of the season sandwiched between a pair of road games against the Atlantic Coast Conference.
“We beat an ACC team on their home floor, so that’s definitely a statement win, and we have another chance to do it again,” said head coach Speedy Claxton.
“I haven’t spent one second on (Syracuse) yet,” Claxton admitted. “I’ll start on them tonight, but I know they’re very long, very athletic, and they’re an outstanding defensive team. We’re going to have our work cut out for us, but we’re going to go there and play to the best of our abilities.”
Before that, focusing on the task at hand was paramount, even if a blowout win was seemingly inevitable because of the vast talent disparity.
“We didn’t want to overlook (Old Westbury),” said Claxton. “We handled business against Pitt, we handled business tonight, and we’re gonna go up to Syracuse and battle them.”
While the Pride would love to host other non-conference Division I teams, Hofstra has had a lot of trouble doing so, particularly when such teams demand a home-and-home series of over two years with financial implications that normally can’t be resolved.
Thus, the Pride’s first two home games this season were a 34-point win over Division II Molloy on November 10 and beating Old Westbury a month later. Hofstra will finally have its first true home test of the season when former Pride head coach Tom Pecora makes his homecoming while leading Quinnipiac into Hempstead on December 21.
For now, Claxton was pleased with his team’s consistent mentality regardless of the opponent.
“I thought they showed a great sign of maturity,” he noted. “They came in and played well, and handled their business. They could have easily had a letdown after a big win. They played hard, and they handled their business the right way.”
“I thought we came out with the right mindset both offensively and defensively. In games like this, guys can easily go out there and just start chucking threes, and not play the game the right way, and not respect the opponent, but I thought we did a really good job of respecting Old Westbury. The defense was outstanding. To give up 10 points in the first half, 13 points in the second half, we approached the game the right way.”
The Panthers were held to just 4-for-26 shooting in the first half and a near-identical 4-for-25 in the second half.
Claxton was also happy to reward Roberts, who posted career highs in points and minutes (25) after appearing in only four prior games and totaling 17 career minutes, which included seven brief but impactful minutes at Pittsburgh.
Roberts responded by going 5-for-11 from 3-point range, despite missing six of seven shots from inside the arc. He also added seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and a block, while avoiding a turnover.
“He’s been coming along,” Claxton said of Roberts. “He showed flashes against Pitt, and I think the more minutes (he gets), the better he’s going to be.”
Coming off a career-high 36 points to lead Hofstra’s win at Pittsburgh, Davis (who played 18 first-half minutes and only five minutes thereafter) was happy to see Roberts and others have their moments to shine while leading a dominant 60-7 Pride attack off the bench.
“It was good, just to see them out there on the court (getting) confidence,” Davis said. “In practice, every day, they put the work in.”
Prior to the pregame introductions, a touching tribute was made to honor the life and legacy of ex-Hofstra head coach Roger Gaeckler, who passed away at the age of 84 on November 13. Claxton joined Old Westbury head coach Bernard Tomlin, Hofstra Vice President and Director of Athletics Rick Cole, and Gaeckler’s daughter Destini at midcourt to lead all those in attendance in paying respects.
“Definitely, rest in peace,” Claxton said of Gaeckler. “Our thoughts and prayers are definitely with him and with his family.”
After Gaeckler guided Hofstra to its first two NCAA tournaments (in 1976 and 1977), the Pride didn’t return to that tournament until Claxton led Hofstra back there as a star player in 2000. The Pride reached the tournament again a year later while Claxton was an NBA rookie and a first-round draft pick.
Tomlin was an NBA draftee himself in 1976 after starring for Gaeckler in 1974-75 and during the following season. Now the winningest head coach in Old Westbury history, Tomlin was celebrated after recording a milestone 450th head coaching win last year.
While the NCAA probably shouldn’t count games like Hofstra vs. Old Westbury as anything more than exhibitions (as there are different divisions for a reason), Gaeckler’s meaningful impact continues connecting past and present program family members like Tomlin and Claxton, even if it’s not exactly competitive when they meet.
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