March Madness: Hofstra earns NCAA Tournament bid after defeating Monmouth in CAA title game
Hofstra head coach hoists the CAA championship trophy while surrounded by his players after winning the conference title on Tuesday, March 10, in Washington D.C. Credit: Joe Orovitz / @joe_took_a_pictur/Photograph by Joe Orovitz, Hofstra
It had been 25 years.
Nine thousand, one hundred and 31 days.
It was worth the wait.
Because Hofstra is going dancing.
“This moment is so surreal,” Speedy Claxton said with a grin after the third seed Pride topped fourth-seeded Monmouth, 75-69, in the Coastal Athletic Association men’s basketball championship game Tuesday night at the CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.
By winning the conference championship, Hofstra (24-10) claimed the CAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pride has qualified for the tournament for the first time since 2019-2020. That tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be the first time the Pride have played in an NCAA Tournament since 2000-01. That team, coached by Jay Wright and led by Norm Richardson, lost to UCLA in the first round, 61-48.
Hofstra has now won two CAA titles in the program’s history.
“Even though it was great winning it [in 2020], we didn’t get to actually compete,” Claxton said. “I’m hoping that everything goes according to plan. We go through Selection Sunday, see who we’re playing, and we actually get the full experience, everything it has to offer.”
In order to earn the right to experience the tournament, Hofstra had to beat Monmouth for the third time this season. The Pride had won the two regular-season meetings with the Hawks, taking a 67-64 decision in overtime on Jan. 10 in Hempstead and, 21 days later, routing Monmouth, 73-57, in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
The Hawks (19-15) did not have senior guard Kavion McClain for those games, due to an NCAA investigation for potential rules infractions. The 5-10, 165-pound senior guard from Memphis made his season debut in Monmouth’s 76-75 win over Stony Brook on Feb. 5 at Island Federal Credit Union Arena, and averaged 16.9 points and 5.4 assists in the 10 games he played before Tuesday night.
After being limited to two points in the first half, McClain erupted for 11 points in a span of two minutes and 40 seconds, which turned Hofstra’s 35-32 halftime lead into a 45-39 deficit with 17:05 to play.
McClain led Monmouth with 19 points.
Following McClain’s third three-pointer in the stretch, Claxton called timeout to calm his team down. The gambit worked. Hofstra responded with a 12-2 run to regain the lead, 51-47, with 12:47 left. Six of the Pride’s 12 points in the stretch were scored by Silas Sunday (layup) and Victory Onuetu (dunk and putback).
“We just couldn’t sustain it,” Monmouth coach King Rice said. “Then they got the lead and they held it.”
Sunday finished with eight points and 12 rebounds. Onuetu contributed eight points and six rebounds in 12 minutes. Hofstra outrebounded Monmouth 43-31, and had a 15-8 advantage on the offensive glass.
“It’s a toughness game,” Claxton said. “The tough team is going to win. And for the majority of the night we were the tougher team.”
Along with getting the bigs involved offensively, Hofstra took advantage of opportunities from the free-throw line. The Pride converted 16 of 20 second-half free throw attempts, and shot 82.1% from the line.
Monmouth converted 14 of 20 free-throw attempts.
Still, for all of the Pride’s good work in the second half, Hofstra held only a 58-52 advantage with eight minutes remaining.
Almost three minutes later, the lead had been trimmed to three, 61-58, after Stefanos Spartalis and Jason Rivera-Torres each knocked down jumpers, and McClain made two free throws.
Preston Edmead, the CAA Rookie of the Year, responded by drilling a straightaway three to extend the lead to six. Edmead led all scorers with 26 and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“Being from Long Island, this program is based on Long Island, it means everything,” said Edmead, who is from Deer Park. “I wouldn’t want to win with anyone besides this team.”
After Monmouth closed to within two following a Rivera-Torres jumper and two free throws, Cruz Davis converted a floater in the lane to push the advantage to 66-62.
Davis, the CAA Player of the Year, finished with 12 points.
But Monmouth would not go away. At least, not easily. Justin Ray drilled a right-side three to cut the deficit to one with 1:18 left.
On the ensuing possession, German Plotnikov knocked down a three to stretch Hofstra’s lead to 69-65.
Edmead, Davis and Plotnikov each made two free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.
