Jalen Ray's 34 points help Hofstra start taking care of CAA Tournament business
Hofstra guard Jalen Ray advances the ball during the second half of a game on Feb. 27, 2020. Credit: Lee S. Weissman/Lee S. Weissman
None of the 10 Colonial Athletic Association teams that arrived in Harrisonburg, Virginia, for the conference men’s basketball tournament has more to play for than Hofstra. And that’s exactly what it looked like as the Pride faced Delaware in a quarterfinal Sunday.
The Pride won the 2020 CAA Tournament championship and accompanying NCAA Tournament bid, its first in 19 years, but never got to enjoy the experience because the COVID-19 pandemic halted college basketball. That would be motivation enough, but their quest for a second straight championship has taken place with head coach Joe Mihalich away on a medical leave.
With all that as a backdrop, it wasn’t apparent that Hofstra was coming off a three-week, coronavirus-inflicted pause. The fourth-seeded Pride’s passion was obvious, senior star Jalen Ray wanted the spotlight, and they got major contributions from all across the roster in a highly entertaining 83-75 victory at James Madison’s Atlantic Bank Union Center.
"The mindset is that we accomplished our mission last year by winning, but we never got to play that first [NCAA Tournament] game," Ray said. "So this is to play that game: win again and make it to the tournament."
Hofstra (13-9) will face eighth-seeded Elon in a Monday semifinal. Both regular-season games between Elon and the Pride were canceled because of Hofstra’s COVID pause.
Sunday’s game was a most unusual matchup in this most unusual season. Delaware was coming off its own pause: five weeks. Nevertheless, the game was played at a competitive, high level with 13 ties and 20 lead changes.
Ray’s play was inspiring. He scored 22 of his career-high 34 points in the second half, including four three-pointers. He had six of Hofstra’s points in a game-deciding 11-2 run and capped it with a drive down the left side for a layup with 4:01 to play for a 72-63 lead. The fifth-seeded Blue Hens (7-8) never got closer than six points the rest of the way.
"He loves the big moments," acting head coach Mike Farrelly said.
"I just wanted to start the momentum for my team since they look at me as a leader," Ray said. "So I just had to be the example for everybody and they just fell in line."
Center Isaac Kante was a force on the interior with 14 points, 6-for-7 shooting and 13 rebounds in a matchup with Delaware’s Dylan Painter, the CAA’s other top big man.
"We saw who the best big guy in the league is,’’ Farrelly said, "and he wears a Hofstra uniform."
Swingman Tareq Coburn added 12 points and point guard Caleb Burgess had 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Pride. The only rustiness Hofstra showed was its 12 missed free throws.
Kevin Anderson led the Blue Hens with 22 points, including five three-pointers.
The cancellation of the 2020 NCAA Tournament left Hofstra disconsolate, especially exiting seniors Desure Buie, Elijah Pemberton and Connor Klementowicz. The idea of this season finally getting what Farrelly called "the final reward" morphed into a summer theme of "unfinished business," he said.
"We’ve definitely started referencing that a lot more this week, especially in our team meeting [Saturday] night," Farrelly said. "We talked about Desure, Elijah and Connor not getting that chance and let’s live it out now in part for them."
One down, two to go.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
