By Kyle Kandetzki - SPORTS EDITOR
The Pride hung in all game against the CAA’s top team, but when they needed a score most, the basket (or a referee’s whistle) couldn’t be found.
The Hofstra Men’s Basketball team took on the College of William & Mary Tribe Sunday afternoon at the Mack Sports Complex, trying to redeem themselves from a 100-79 loss earlier in the year. The Pride fought an uphill battle all game, and tied the score in the closing minute, but two Marcus Thornton free throws for the Tribe were enough to down Hofstra, 80-78.
“I’m proud of the team,” said head coach Joe Mihalich. “We could’ve packed it in, but we tie the game, and we only needed to stop them once.”
Hofstra, coming off an exciting road win versus the Towson Tigers, decided to shake things up, adding grad student Dion Nesmith into the starting lineup. Nesmith made his presence known early, nailing two three-pointers, both key in making sure the Tribe didn’t run away with the game early. The latter bucket brought the W&M lead to 11-8, four and a half minutes in.
William & Mary noticeably forced Hofstra’s hand at their own game: running a fast paced offense. The Tribe succeeded several times in gaining a rebound, and simply beating the Pride back to the basket. This style of play benefitted forward Sean Sheldon the most, who was key on both ends, limiting Moussa Kone to just two points, while shooting a perfect 4-for-4 in the first half.
The Tribe played impressive defense inside, forcing Hofstra to pass the ball around outside the arc with nowhere to go. Ameen Tanksley and Juan’ya Green made several attempts to drive to the hoop, but many tries rolled off the rim or were not finished strong enough to gain a score.
Hofstra’s defensive woes continued via leaving shooters wide open beyond the arc, most notably guard Terry Tarpey, who knocked down three easy three-pointers in the period.
But despite struggles, the Pride seemed to always come to life when they needed it most. After tying the game at 17-17 halfway through the period, the Tribe went on a huge 16-7 run over just four minutes to take a nine-point lead. Hofstra’s response was three consecutive scores inside, one of which was a thunderous dunk by Malik Nichols, who used his energetic play style to bring Hofstra within three in the final 2:30.
“It’s tough when he’s out there you say ‘he’s doing a great job,” said Mihalich, referencing Nichols’ limited playtime. “And when he’s on the bench you want to get him in. It’s tough.
But a few bad defensive stretches, punctuated by a last-second Green foul from beyond half court, allowed William & Mary to rattle off eight of the half’s final nine points, giving them a 41-34 advantage at the break. The Tribe did this all without guard Daniel Dixon, who went 6-for-6 in the last meeting between these two, but missed the game with an injury.
The second half featured much of the same style of play for the Tribe, as Sheldon led off the period with another inside score, but Hofstra’s key players were a bit different this time around. Brian Bernardi played a big role in keeping the Pride in the game, cutting into some of a seven-point deficit with a three-point play. Bernardi also tied a career-high with six rebounds, adding to an impressive effort where Hofstra outrebounded W&M 38-27.
The Pride would keep William & Mary in their sights for much of the first half of the period, getting closest to taking the lead when Nichols grabbed a steal on an errant pass and took it all by himself for the score, making it 45-43 with 17:00 left to go, or when Nesmith tied the game at 49 with another deep ball.
The Tribe once again pulled ahead by six or seven points at various times, but it would be Bernardi showing the clutch gene, knocking down back-to-back three-pointers and putting the W&M lead at 59-55 with 9:30 left to go.
“Our guys fought like crazy,” said Mihalich. “And they really didn’t have a lot of reason to do that other than to play with a lot of pride and a lot of heart.”
Missing in William & Mary’s first half attack was star guard Thronton, who made his presence known in the second. The senior used his huge vertical and impressive speed to blow by the 1-3-1 zone Hofstra was offering, as well as nailing huge three-pointers to counter Bernardi.
Hofstra’s late game attack was lead by Green, who broke out of early struggles (1-of-7 in the first), to eventually overpower the Tribe defense. After Thornton knocked down a three, and Tarpey continued his huge day (21 points, 7-of-11), W&M was in their best position of the entire game, 73-63 with 4:30 left. But Green nailed home two three-pointers, and quickly countered a Thornton layup with one of his own, making it a two-score affair, 75-71 with just over two minutes left.
“My teammates kept pushing me, they knew I had a bad first half” said Green. “I was just trying to find a lane and find open shots for my teammates, or for myself.”
The remainder of the game belonged to the driving forces of either squad; Thornton responded with yet another jumper, but Tanksley made sure Hofstra was still in this one with a final three-pointer, followed by two Green free throws, making it a nerve-wracking 77-76 game in the final minute.
Thornton seemed to assume control of this game at this point, this time getting Nichols to foul him, but only making one of two shots from the stripe.
The Mack, which was quiet for much of the afternoon, suddenly came alive when Green continued his hot streak, burying an inside shot to knot the game at 78 in the final 34 seconds.
But even with the crowd drowning out a large, traveling cheering section for the Tribe, the reign of Thornton couldn’t be stopped. Marcus drew another foul, and knocked down two final free throws, putting him up to a game-high 23 points, and a score of 80-78.
Hofstra had 3.7 seconds to respond, and Nesmith tried to hit a tying shot from mid-range, but the ball would go errantly away from the hoop at the buzzer. The team, including Mihalich, looking shocked, waited for a foul call that never game. Game over.
“I probably took too many dribbles, should’ve pulled up for the three-point shot,” said Nesmith. “[But] the ref didn’t call a foul, so there was no foul.”
Green’s big second half gave him a team-high 21 points, but his typical role as the key passer was relinquished to Nesmith, who had nine assists to couple with 17 points. Bernardi, Nichols, and Tanklsey added double figures on a day where Hofstra shot 45% from the field, adding 15, 12, and 11, respectively.
The Pride now move to their final two games of the regular season, and their final home game on Wednesday, versus last place College of Charleston. Tipoff from the Mack is scheduled for 7 p.m.