Hofstra’s Hot Start Sends Pride to Convincing, 74-59 Win Over District of Columbia Men’s Basketball

HEMPSTEAD, NY – Division I Hofstra scored the first 11 points of the evening and the host Pride never looked back as they handed the University of the District of Columbia men's basketball team a 74-59 loss at Mack Sports Complex on Saturday in subregional round action of the 2K Sports Classic.

The Firebirds (1-3), playing their third of four Division I opponents to start the 2012-13 season, were led by reserve senior forward D'Angelo Johnson (Mass Media – Washington, DC/Virginia St.) with a game-high 20 points and five rebounds. Junior transfer guards Michael Terry (Criminal Justice – Philadelphia, PA/Boston University) and Quasim Jones (Business Management – Philadelphia, PA/Johnson CC) added 13 and 10 points, respectively, with Jones also dishing out a team-best five assists. Meanwhile, senior forward Dyrek Jones contributed with a game-high 13 rebounds, all on the defensive glass.

Hofstra featured a very well-balanced offensive attack that included six scorers in double-figures, including reserve forward Stephen Nwaukoni's team-bests, 13 points and nine boards. Starting forwards Jimmy Hall and David Imes registered 12 and 11 points, respectively, while the Pride's starting backcourt duo of Stevie Mejia and Shaquille Stokes added 11 points each and combined for 10 assists. Taran Buie, a reserve guard, also came off the bench to record 12 points.

The Pride raced out to an 11-0 lead as the Firebirds went scoreless for the first four minutes of play. Senior guard Keith Brooks (Journalism – Queens, NY/Monsignor McClancy HS) got the Firebirds on the board by burying a three-pointer off of an assist from Quasim Jones, and later knocked down a jumper to cut the deficit to six (11-5) at the 15:27 mark. Still only trailing by six (13-7) almost a minute later, District of Columbia allowed Hofstra on a 9-3 run, culminating in a Mejia layup to put the Pride up 24-10 just past the 12-minute mark. Two consecutive buckets by the Firebirds cut the Hofstra lead to 10 (24-14), but the Pride took the game over with a 15-4 spell which helped balloon their lead to 39-19 with a little over five minutes left to play in the first half. Still, District of Columbia fought back to cut that lead in half with a 14-4 run in the final 5:19, helped in large part by Johnson's 10 points during that span, as the Firebirds trailed, 43-33 at intermission.

In the second half, it was the Firebirds who got an early spark courtesy of two layups by Michael Terry, as District of Columbia scored six of the first eight points in the frame and closed the gap to six, 45-39. That would be as close as the Firebirds would get the rest of the way though, as Hofstra upped its lead back to 12 (51-39) with three consecutive jump shots, the final two of which were by Hall. District of Columbia closed within seven on three different occasions, the last of which on a layup by Terry at the 8:11 mark. But Hofstra went on to outscore the Firebirds 14-6 the rest of the way, as the Pride won comfortably, 74-59.

The Pride owned a 49-percent to 34-percent disparity in field goal shooting while making 4-of-8 (50%) from behind-the-arc compared to just 4-of-19 (21-percent) by the Firebirds. Hofstra also had a clear, 50-32 rebounding advantage as the Pride out-scored District of Columbia, 30-26 in the paint and 11-7 in second-chance points.

The Firebirds return to 2K Sports Classic action at Hofstra's Mack Sports Complex tomorrow with their final game of the tournament against their fourth Division I opponent of the year, South Dakota State. Tip-off is at 12:30 p.m.