March Madness: Hofstra watch party on Long Island filled with pride despite team's NCAA Tourney loss

They came in waves.

Ones and twos. Threes and fours.

Into the building with blue and light gray aluminum siding on the roof and a brick base on the corner of Republic and Liberty Boulevards, dressed in various shades of blues and yellows and whites and greys, some were students. Others alumni. Some were staff. All were fans.

They gathered together here for a celebration 25 years in the making. They were here to watch the Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

And to revel in the requisite exhilaration that comes with being one of the 68 best men’s college basketball teams in the nation.

“To hear [Turner Sports analyst] Charles Barkley right now talk about Hofstra and [head coach Speedy Claxton], it’s like, how exciting is that?” Jeff Mendelsohn of Woodbury, who graduated from the school in 2007, told Newsday at halftime of the Pride’s 90-70 loss to Alabama in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday. “Having them be a part of the tournament is a big deal. It’s a big deal for the school. Winning is fun.”

Especially when you can share the experience with an estimated 250 of your closest friends.

Even though there was a healthy contingent of students, alumni and fans inside Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida, for the Midwest regional first-round game, due in part to it being spring break, according to Jean Peden Christodoulou, the vice president for administration, the concept for the watch party was conceived shortly after the Selection Sunday announcement that Hofstra would play Alabama.

Shortly thereafter, the groundwork was laid for Hempstead’s most raucous block party in two-and-a-half-decades.

“We still have a crowded house. We just wanted to enjoy the excitement on our campus,” Peden Christodoulou said. “When [we] heard there were watch parties all over Long Island, we thought what better thing to have a watch party on our own campus? So right after we knew on Selection Sunday where we were going to be and what time we were playing, we got this set up and got RSVPs right away.”

With more than a helping hand from the school’s Student Government Association.

Evelyn Quail, the president of the organization, explained that the club tried “our best to rally students who are here to come. That’s really what we try to do, just bring school spirit to students and get them at these things. Which I think we’ve been pretty successful at.”

Even before the game tipped off, chants of “Let’s Go Hof-stra!” and “Hof-stra!” erupted. Moments later, a cacophony of loud cheers, whistles, and thumps from pounded tables rumbled through the student dining hall when a still photo of Claxton standing next to former Hofstra coach Jay Wright was shown on the screen.

The din grew louder when grad student German Plotnikov knocked down a mid-range jumper and, a few minutes later, a three for Hofstra’s first two baskets of the contest.

Elation turned into delirium when Cruz Davis drilled a step-back three. Followed by Biggie Patterson’s triple. Which was accompanied by a Davis layup to turn a 16-12 deficit into a 20-16 lead.

As Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats called timeout, there wasn’t hope that Hofstra could beat Alabama, the No. 18 team in the country from the mighty Southeastern Conference.

There was belief.

“I thought we had a tough matchup ahead of us,” Mendelsohn said at halftime, with Hofstra trailing by just two points, 37-35. “I thought we have a team that can beat Alabama. Overall we’re a team that can beat them and I like our chances.”

Although Alabama pulled away in the second half, the mood was still upbeat. Cheers and claps and shouts reverberated after every made Pride basket.

And then, in the final moments as Claxton pulled his starters off the court, 1,154 miles to the north, they received a standing ovation.

“There’s a sense of pride,” Mendelsohn said. “No pun intended.”