By PJ Potter - ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Four players recorded double-digit scoring to help the Hofstra men’s basketball team rout Drexel 80-67 in the quarterfinals of the CAA Championship at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
“[It was a] hard fought win. Usually, when you’re the number one seed, that first game you think you’re going to play somebody that’s not going to be as tough…that’s not the case this year in this league,” Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich said.
This is the third time of the season the Pride managed to accomplish this feat against the Dragons.
Juan’ya Green led all scorers with 22 points, logging a full time sheet of 40 minutes.
“I felt good. My body felt good. All of my teammates always got my back no matter what the situation is,” Juan’ya Green said.
Brian Bernardi and Ameen Tanksley added 14 and 13 points, respectively, shooting 6-for-13 combined from beyond the arc.
Denton Koon came close to his 5th double-double this season, falling two points short. Koon dropped eight points and added ten rebounds.
Rokas Gustys, who is ranked 4th in the NCAA in rebounds per contest with 12.7, recorded his 20th double-double of the season. Gustys muscled 16 points and 11 rebounds, doing so in 20 minutes due to foul trouble throughout the game.
Going to work early, Gustys put up five points and five rebounds in the opening five minutes of the game, which set the tone for the remainder of the matchup.
Juan’ya Green pushed Hofstra’s first double-digit lead with 6:29 left in the first half on a three-pointer to make it a 29-19 game.
Hofstra then capped its 8-0 run with another three-pointer from Green with under five minutes left in the first half, giving the Pride a 15-point margin. Hofstra entered halftime up 42-29.
The Pride continued its barrage on offense, starting the second half with a 7-0 run, giving Hofstra a 20-point lead, their largest of the game.
Gustys was quickly issued his 4th personal foul and had to sit the bench. Substitutes Andre Walker, Desure Buie, and Justin Wright-Foreman rotated in for the foul-troubled center, totaling 34 minutes.
“I thought all three of them really helped us,” Coach Mihalich said.
Walker worked his way around the stat sheet doing a little bit of everything. Walker had three points, three rebounds, two blocks, one assist and one steal in a career-high 18 minutes played.
Desure Buie added two points and three assists. Wright-Foreman hit two free throws at the line and recorded one steal.
Despite a strong offensive outing, Hofstra was able to get back on defense and force bad shots for Drexel.
As former MLB third baseman Scott Rolen said, “Defense is a lot more natural to me than offense.”
For the Pride, they naturally ran back in transition without allowing a single fast break point in the contest.
“That was one of our keys…stopping the ball and not allowing them take easy shots,” Green said.
Hofstra held Drexel to 29 percent from three-point range and outrebounded them 38-34.
For Drexel, Rodney Williams totaled 20 points and 11 rebounds. Kazembe Abif scored 18 points on 9-for-16 shooting. Abif also grabbed eight rebounds.
It was not an easy game to be taken lightly, as anticipated, for Hofstra.
“The first game is the toughest…you just got to get the first win under your belt,” head coach Joe Mihalich said.
The Pride returns to action tomorrow in the semi-final against the winner against William & Mary at 1 p.m.