Juan'ya Green, Ameen Tanksley lead Hofstra to victory over Molloy
Hofstra guard Juan'ya Green dribbles during the first half of a game against Molloy on Monday, Nov. 16, 2015. Credit: Lee S. Weissman
Starting Friday, Hofstra's men's basketball team will face some big opponents in an exotic locale. On Monday, it got its vacation started early, right in the comfort of its own home, against neighbors from down the road.
Led by Rokas Gustys, Juan'ya Green and Ameen Tanksley, Hofstra proved inhospitable against visiting Molloy, routing the Division II team, 96-64, in the first meeting between the schools' basketball programs. It was the Pride's final game before departing for St. Thomas, where it will participate in the four-day Paradise Jam. Its first opponent will be Florida State.
Hofstra took the lead in the first minute and never let go, but Molloy -- which Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich called "scrappy . . . fired up" -- proved troublesome for most of the first half. The Lions shot only 2-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half and were outrebounded 27-19 (including eight offensive rebounds by the Pride) but managed to draw within one with 13:35 left on Jaylen Morris' layup.
But the Pride (2-0) scored the next six points -- a jumper by freshman Justin Wright-Foreman and layups by Gustys and Green -- to help it go into the break leading 37-29. Green scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half.
"It's the idea of respect," Mihalich said. "When you play this game, you respect yourself, you respect the game and you respect your opponent, and some of those components were missing. Maybe all were missing first half, but second half I felt like we did that.
"[Molloy was] inspired . . . I have a lot of respect for them.''
Tanksley added 17 points and Gustys scored eight of his 12 points and grabbed nine of his 16 rebounds in the second half. Hofstra shot 40.6 percent in the first half but 63.3 in the second. It kicked off the second half on a 13-2 run and opened a 24-point lead midway through the half. Molloy (0-3) shot 35.1 percent overall.
"It was no technical adjustments at all," Mihalich said -- simply better execution that he hopes will translate to playing Division I opponents.
"Whether it's this game tonight or the three games we play [in St. Thomas], the idea is to get us ready for league play so that we can be one of the best teams in the league," he said. "Hopefully by the end of the year have a chance to win the tournament."
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
