By Hailey Oliveri – SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Hofstra Pride sent their seniors out in style on Wednesday night, crushing the College of Charleston Cougars, 73-40, in front of 1,529 fans at the Mack Sports complex.
Playing in their final game in front of the home crowd, Moussa Kone and Dion Nesmith combined for 23 points as Hofstra (19-11, 10-7 CAA) took over sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings. The Cougars fell to 8-22, (3-14 CAA).
Senior Night for the Pride held good spirits all around as Kone and Nesmith were honored in the pregame ceremony. The coaching staff presented to both players and their parents with framed Hofstra jerseys of their numbers for their time with the program. Shortly afterwards, the game kicked off and marked the start of Nesmith and Kone’s final game in a Pride uniform in front of the Pride faithful at the Mack.
“It was a lot of up and downs during my first couple years here but as soon as the coach change happened, the first time I spoke to Coach Mihalich, I believed in everything he wanted to do,” said Moussa Kone, who has been with the Pride for four seasons. “The way he wanted to change the whole organization and the program and making the basketball team as good as it was before, that’s one thing that really encouraged me to keep Hofstra in my blood.”
Kone led all scorers with 16 points and snagged a game-high 10 rebounds to finish his final game at the Mack with his second double-double performance this year.
Head coach Joe Mihalich commented on his work with his seniors in his first two years with the Pride. “Till the day I die I know personally, and I know I think I speak for all of Hofstra, how indebted we are to people like Moussa Kone and Dion Nesmith and you’ve probably got to mention Zeke Upshaw too because those three guys really helped us change the culture of Hofstra basketball and make it what it should be.”
The key moment in the game for Hofstra was in the first half with less than 10 minutes left to go and forward Ameen Tanksley started off a strong run for the Pride. With eight points in less than a three-minute span, Tanksley got the ball rolling and the team came out with a solid 31-14 lead over the Cougars at the half.
With a start that was slower than expected, the Pride and Cougars were neck and neck. The Cougars weren’t making their shots, but they weren’t allowing the Pride to score much either as the score stood 10-8 with 11:05 to go in the first. Eight of the first ten points came from the hands of Kone – he alone matched Charleston within the opening 10 minutes.
Kone and Tanksley helped the team to rally with a combined 24 points in the first half that put the Pride ahead with a substantial 17-point lead by halftime.
During the half, Nesmith was honored for the second time as a student-athlete with a GPA over 3.0. Other players that were honored for their academic achievements included freshman forward Rokas Gustys and sophomore guard Daryl Fowlkes.
The first two minutes of the second half ran scoreless for the Pride while the Cougars were able to cut the 17-point deficit down to 11.
Hofstra quickly stepped up with nine unanswered points in a minute-14 second span. The Pride came back to make it a 20-point lead thanks to three consecutive triples from Nesmith, Green and Bernardi.
From the 11:49-5:07, Hofstra pushed the lead out of reach with an 18-3 run with stellar defense and execution from the field as well as the free throw line – 11 points during the run came from the charity stripe. The rest of the game was smooth sailing for Hofstra as the team was up by 32 points at the end of the run.
The Cougars fought hard to put up points forcing foul after foul against the Pride. 14-of-40 points were from free throws alone. Guard Joe Chealey led the Charleston with 11 points, five rebounds, and three assists, alongside Donovan Gilmore with 11 points and four rebounds.
This was the first time this season the Pride shutdown a team with less than 50 points on the night in a single game. The last time occurred against Towson during the 2012-2013 season.
“We never let them get into a rhythm. They’ve got some dangerous guys on their team… we never let any of them get into a rhythm, we kept them off balance.” said Mihalich.
Overall, it was a night filled with emotion as the Pride won their last home game of the 2014-15 season, but everyone knew this would be their last home game with Kone and Nesmith.
“This is one of those games you don’t like as a coach because you’re supposed to win and the other team is dangerous and you’re worried about all the things we talked about, its senior night its 3.0 night, there’s a lot of things going on so that’s why I’m so proud these guys were able to keep their focus and I’m just so happy for these two guys,” Mihalich said.
The Pride will finish off their regular season this Saturday against James Madison University over in Harrisburg, Virginia. Hofstra and the Dukes are set to tipoff at 4:00 p.m.