Saturday Night Fever: Electric Crowd Feeds Big Hofstra Rally

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- The Hofstra Pride had never hosted a Saturday night game before. For almost 26 minutes, Hofstra almost wished it hadn’t done so for the first time, as the Pride was down 15 points to the worst team in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Hofstra Pride defend against the North Carolina-
Wilmington Seahawks at the Mack Sports Complex 
in Hempstead, N.Y. (Photo: Jon Wagner, February 
8, 2014)

But, in front of its liveliest home crowd of the season, Hofstra (8-17, 4-6 CAA) suddenly turned up its defensive intensity, attacked offensively and closed on a 35-11 surge over the final 14:05, to snap a five-game losing streak while handing the North Carolina-Wilmington Seahawks (6-19, 0-10 CAA) their 14th straight loss, 62-51, at the Mack Sports Complex.

“We didn’t play at (the scheduled start time of) 7 [p.m.],” joked head coach Joe Mihalich. “We didn’t start playing until 8’oclock.”

Jumping out to unexpected leads of 8-4, 13-7 and 20-11 by the midpoint of the opening half, the UNCW looked as good as another Seahawks team that likewise visited the New York City area six nights earlier (when the Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII in East Rutherford, New Jersey).

Playing a true team game in the opening half, UNCW shot a blistering 65.2 percent (15-for-23), including 44.4 percent (4-for-9) from 3-point range, while making 14 of its first 20 field goal attempts (70 percent). Six of 10 Seahawks scored between four and six points on no more than four shots apiece in the half, as UNCW led 25-14 and 31-20 before taking a 35-21 advantage into the locker room.

Hofstra looks for a hoop against UNCW (Photo: Jon 
Wagner, February 8, 2014)

The second half was a different story, however, as UNCW made just 25 percent (5-of-20) of its shots while Hofstra, which missed 23 of its first 30 shots (while going 7-for-19 in the first half), made 13 of its last 23 shots, while often getting into the paint to key its comeback.

“This was a game we had to win,” Mihalich said. “We did everything we could to lose it in that first half. These guys played with some passion in that second half. They competed, they had that will to win… it was fun, that second half.”

Graduate guard Zeke Upshaw, who shot just 4-of-13, but played all 40 minutes while scoring a game-high 16 points, said, “We were tired of losing… so we wanted to change that in the second half and we knew it had to start on the defensive end, so we tried to pick it up on defense.”

On that note, Mihalich credited his players, saying, “It was that old expression, ‘It’s wasn’t the x’s and the o’s, it’s the Jimmy’s and the Joe’s.’ These guys just said, ‘I don’t care what defense we’re playing, we’re guarding our guy.’ I think it was more about attitude.”

At the other end of the floor, the Pride neutralized the Seahawks’ 18-4 first-half advantage in the paint with a 20-6 edge of its own in that category after halftime.

“I think we were expecting it to be a little easier than it was [in the first half], and so, I think we just put our heads down and went [at them] a little more in the second half,” Mihalich noted.

UNCW’s bench outscored Hofstra’s, 29-7, led by 15 points from junior guard Freddie Jackson (a Wilmington, North Carolina native), the only Seahawk to score in double figures.

Hofstra guard Zeke Upshaw (L) and his teammate, 
forward Jordan Allen. (Photo: Jon Wagner, February 8, 
2014)

Upshaw though, was complimented by 15 points and a game-best nine rebounds from sophomore forward Jordan Allen (playing his third game while wearing a mask, after returning from a broken nose) and 13 points and a game-high five assists from graduate point guard Dion Nesmith.

“Jordan being back, really being Jordan,” Mihalich said, has a tremendous positive effect on the Pride’s rotation. “He wasn’t for 2½ games. He was the second half and that’s when we’re at our best.”

After UNCW took the game’s biggest lead, 41-26, on a two-handed dunk by junior forward Cedrick Williams (four points), with 14:36 left, Hofstra stormed back with the next eight points, to trigger a 19-3 run that was capped with an Allen layup that gave the Pride its first lead, 45-44, with 6:03 remaining.           

Hofstra ROTC members watch its team against UNCW.
(Photo: Jon Wagner, February 8, 2014)

Playing on Military Appreciation Night, in front of military veterans, Hofstra Reserve Officers Training Corps  members and Hofstra’s loudest student section (The Lion’s Den) of the season, the Pride’s energy finally matched the crowds during its second-half rally.

The Hofstra Dance team, clad in camouflage t-shirts.
(Photo: Jon Wagner, February 8, 2014)

During the under-12 timeout in the first half, with 11:29 left, the Hofstra ROTC contingent stood up and was honored with military veterans as the crowd of 2,159 -- including students in the Lion’s Den wearing the same special camouflage t-shirts that the Hofstra dance team and Pride staffers wore -- stood and applauded.

Bruce Springsteen’s “Born In the USA” played over the public address system as the Lion’s Den chanted “U-S-A!”

An Iraqi war veteran speaks on Military
Appreciation Night at Hofstra. (Photo:
Jon Wagner, February 8, 2014)

At halftime, an Iraqi war veteran, leaning on a cane, with a bandage over his injured left eye, stood at midcourt while detailing the toll that battle had taken on him. With his guide dog Liz at his side, he then extolled the great work of an organization known as Canine Companions.

“I take about 21 pills a day to survive,” he said. “My service dog Liz is able to pick up those pills and give them to me.”

Wanting to give him, other veterans and the rest of home crowd a better effort, Allen said, “We just wanted to play hard in front of those guys and it was an honor to play in front of them. And like Coach said, we would just not accept losing.”

The Hofstra scoreboard displays the logo of Canine
Companions, a group devoted to aiding U.S. war 
veterans. (Photo: Jon Wagner, February 8, 2014)

Echoing those sentiments, Upshaw added, “We appreciated the fans coming out, so I wanted to pick it up for them.”

A pair of free throws by Jackson tied the game at 46-apeice, but an Upshaw 3-pointer put Hofstra up for good, 49-46, with 4:17 to go.

Senior forward Shane Reybold (seven points) brought the Seahawks to within 50-48 on a layup, but a three-point play by Allen pushed the lead to 53-48 with 2:52 left, before Nesmith baskets twice gave the Pride seven-point leads (57-50 and 59-52) in the final two minutes.

Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich (Photo: Jon Wagner, 
February 8, 2014)

Thinking of Hofstra’s 69-64 win in Wilmington on January 15, Mihalich reflected on what dropping into an eighth-place tie in the nine-team CAA -- while losing to the only winless team within the conference -- would have meant instead of staying in a seventh-place tie, just one game out of fourth place.

“What’s that line from Apollo 13?” he asked, rhetorically. “Failure’s not an option? (Michigan head coach) John Beilein has this theory and I agree with him. One of the hardest things to do in conference play is beating a team on the road and then beating them again when you come back to your place, because subconsciously, these guys say, ‘Well, Coach, we beat them at their place, of course we’re going to beat them at home.’ And then [add to that] the fact that [UNCW hadn’t] won a game [within the CAA]… and so, there were some of those psychological challenges. That makes the win even better because we overcame those things.”

Head coach Joe Mihalich (L) with guard Zeke Upshaw 
and forward Jordan Allen (R). (Photo: Jon Wagner, 
February 8, 2014)

Now, the trick for Mihalich is to get his team (which started a surprising 3-1 in the CAA before struggling) to find some consistency.

“When I get upset and get frustrated is when I know these guys are better than they’re playing,” he said. “And that’s my job, to get these guys to play as good as they can play.”

Mihalich’s squad will try to do that next with road games at James Madison (8-16, 3-7 CAA) on Monday night and following a five-day layoff, at Drexel (13-10, 5-5 CAA) on February 16, before the Pride returns home to face first-place Delaware (18-7, 10-0) three nights later.

Jonathan Wagner covers the New York Knicks, New York Giants and New York Mets as a contributor for Yahoo Sports, where he was named one of Yahoo’s Top 100 Contributors for 2013. Jonathan also covers the Knicks, Hofstra University men's basketball and the 2013 NASL champion New York Cosmos as a credentialed writer for New York Sports Day. Follow him on Twitter, @JonathanJWagner.