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MBB Vs. Hofstra
John Crouch
71
UNCW UNCW 16-7,10-2 CAA
73
Winner Hofstra Hof 15-9,7-4 CAA
UNCW UNCW
16-7,10-2 CAA
71
Final
73
Hofstra Hof
15-9,7-4 CAA
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UNCW UNCW 30 41 71
Hofstra Hof 31 42 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Joe Browning

Pride Topples Seahawks On Long Island

HEMPSTEAD, New York – Hofstra withstood a furious comeback by Colonial Athletic Association frontrunner UNCW and avenged a loss 10 days ago by escaping past the Seahawks, 73-71, in an afternoon tilt on Monday at the David S. Mack Sports Complex on Long Island.
 
The Pride hiked its record to 15-9 overall and 7-4 in the CAA. The Seahawks carry their 16-7 overall ledger and 10-2 conference mark back to North Carolina for a four-game home stand that begins on Saturday, Feb. 12, with Charleston.
 
The Seahawks, playing in their second consecutive nationally-televised game, have won 13 out of their last 15 games and still own a 1.5 game lead in the CAA standings over Towson (9-3).
 
Graduate guard Mike Okauru of UNCW led all players in scoring with 25 points on 9-of-16 shooting. Graduate guard Jaylen Fornes chipped in 13 points, senior guard Jaylen Sims had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds – the first for the Seahawks this season - and graduate guard James Baker scored all 11 of his points in the second half to give the Seahawks four in double digits.
 
Junior guard Aaron Estrada, the CAA's reigning Player of the Week, paced the Pride with 23 points. Sophomore guard Darlinstone Dubar added 20 and graduate guard Zach Cooks collected 16 points off the bench for Hofstra.
 
Second-year UNCW head coach Takayo Siddle said, "It was a high level basketball game between two very good teams with really good players. They made some big plays down the stretch. We put ourselves in a position to the win the ball game.
 
"I'm still proud of our guys. Our guys battled. We both played with great energy in the second half. We could have laid down, but had a shot at the end. All of the players fought hard tonight. We just wanted to push it down, get to the rim and we got all the way to rim and just fell short."
 
The Seahawks trailed by seven points with 32 seconds left, but stormed back and nearly sent the game into overtime. It was the first time in 13 games this season that the Seahawks scored at least 70 points and lost.
 
Okauru, on a tear of late, drained his fifth three-pointer of the game with 23 seconds on the clock to trim the score to 72-68 and after the Pride missed the front end of two bonus situations, Okauru sank another trey 15 seconds later to shave the deficit to 72-71.
 
The Seahawks fouled Cooks, who missed the first of two free throws. After the speedy guard made his second free throw, UNCW, with no timeouts left, inbounded the ball to Okauru and the veteran guard's contested layup rolled off the rim as time expired.
 
Neither team led by more than four points through the first 15 minutes of the decisive period before Hofstra inched out to a seven-point lead behind Dubar and Cooks. The back-and-forth game featured nine ties and 21 lead changes.
 
Hofstra started out fast in the opening minutes until the Seahawks used a late surge to narrow the deficit to 31-30 at intermission.
 
Okauru, who exploded for 30 points in Saturday's win at William & Mary, carried the Seahawks in the early going, scoring the team's first eight points, including a three-pointer at 16:37 that gave UNCW an 8-7 edge.
 
But the Pride rallied to take an eight-point lead, 24-16 on a putback by redshirt senior forward Abayomi Iyiola with 6:17 left in the first half.
 
UNCW still trailed, 26-19, when the Seahawks reeled off eight unanswered points to take a 28-26 lead. Okauru made a runner, was fouled on the play and dropped in the free throw to complete the and-on and put UNCW on top.
 
Hofstra regained the lead with buckets by Estrada and Dubar before reserve forward Amari Kelly scored on a putback dunk with 30 seconds left on the clock to narrow the deficit to 31-30 at halftime.
 
Okauru and Baker became the third and fourth Seahawks to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the contest. Okauru's 25 points gives the Raleigh product 1,024 points in 141 collegiate appearances ad Baker's 11 points gives the Kentucky native an even 1,000 points in 143 college games.
 
UNCW begins its extended home stand on Saturday with a Homecoming matchup against Charleston at 7 p.m. The Seahawks then round out the regular season home schedule with William & Mary (Feb. 14), Towson (Feb. 17) and James Madison (Feb. 19).
 
-GAME NOTES: UNCW defeated Hofstra, Hofstra, 78-72, on Jan. 29, 2022, at Trask Coliseum…Sims added a team-high six assists in an all-around game…The Pride outrebounded the Seahawks, 41-36…Hofstra outscored UNCW by one point in each half…Estrada was the only player to play all 40 minutes…The Seahawks shot 38.7 percent in the first half before heating up to 54.8 percent in the second period…UNCW went 9-of-23 from long distance…UNCW scored 36 points in the paint…The Seahawks are 23-25 all-time against the Pride…UNCW stands 8-12 at the Mack Sports Complex…The Seahawks are 7-5 in true road games…UNCW is 5-2 in afternoon tips… UNCW has six games remaining in the regular season schedule – four at home and two away from Trask Coliseum…It was UNCW's first loss in four games decided by two points or less.

 
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