Hofstra walked into Draddy Gymnasium on Wednesday evening and were down 13 points without blinking an eye. Unlike their tremendous run at home over the weekend the Pride weren’t able to come all the way back. Continue reading “Hofstra Struggles Again On The Road” →

After Hofstra’s three win three day weekend at home as part of the 2K Sports Classic. Big Apple Buckets caught up with head coach Mo Cassara on what he thought of the weekend and how his team responded.

Continue reading “Q&A with Hofstra Coach Mo Cassara” →

Prior to the start of the season it appeared Shaquille Stokes would be the last player to have the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game.

In Hofstra’s home opener friday night, Stokes had the ball with under 10 seconds left in a tie game against South Dakota State, a team that went to the NCAA Tournament last season.

“I wanted to be the one to take a shot,” Stokes said. “Even though I knew Stevie [Mejia] and Turan [Buie] wanted it, I felt like I had to take that one.”

Stokes drained the three pointer with three seconds left, delivering the first of three wins over the weekend for the Pride in the 2K Sports Classic Hempstead subregional.  On Sunday Stokes scored 10 of his career-high 26 points in the second overtime to lift Hofstra to a 103-100 win over Conference USA opponent Marshall. He would share co-CAA Player of the Week with Towson’s Jerrelle Benimon.

“It’s been a fun roller coaster,” Stokes said after Sunday’s game. “But I still want to enjoy the ride.”

The journey Stokes took to get to be on the court friday night was not easy. After spending less than a year at Hawaii and transferring to Hofstra, Stokes waited to hear from the NCAA on a Hardship Waiver so he can play closer to his family in New York City.

Stokes said that most difficult thing for him was the wait to find out whether or not he would be able to play.

“It was real tough for me at first in the summer,” Stokes said. “Building chemistry with the guys is fun at first but then not knowing if I was going to play or not was kind of hard on me.”

“I really didn’t practice hard sometimes during the season, I must admit.”

Stokes hurt himself during the preseason, spraining his ankle in practice prior to the season starting.

Complicating the situation further was that head coach Mo Cassara was busy balancing a roster with a large group of new faces; a group that includes four transfers and five freshmen.

“We’re basically thinking he’s not going to play so we’re trying to get the guys ready that we do think are going to play,” Cassara said. “That’s a really challenging thing as a staff where we have to focus a little more on some of the guys and give some of those guys a little more reps and that was a difficult thing for him.”

Stokes is one of four new transfer players this season for the Pride. Penn State transfer Taran Buie played his first three games for Hofstra this weekend after sitting out a suspension for violating team rules. UConn transfer Jamal Coombs-McDaniel sat out as well with a suspension but is currently nursing an injury. Daquan Brown, a Fresno State transfer, will become eligible in December.

On November 7th, two days prior to Hofstra’s season opener at Monmouth, the answer Stokes had been waiting for came at an inopportune time. Cassara called Stokes, who was napping across campus, and told him he needed to see him as soon as possible.

“I was actually asleep before practice,” Stokes said. “I wanted to get a quick nap in so then I could head over to practice get some shots up but coach just kept calling me saying it was an urgent message, had to see me ASAP so I just ran over there and when he told me the news I was in shock.”

“He walked into the office with our whole staff there and knew that something was either really wrong or really good,” Cassara said. “I told him we have a problem we got to talk about and his head kind of sunk down. I told him we’ve got to get him a plane ticket to go to Purdue and he was just thrilled and kind of shocked at the same time.”

Shocked at his eligibility, Stokes said that when he walked in to the room with the staff he thought Cassara would have good news waiting for him.

“When I walked in the room, Coach had this kind of smile but they tried to hide it,” Stokes said.

“Once I found out I was able to play I was just happy the burden was off my back.”

After meeting with the coaches and going through practice, Stokes called his mother and father to pass along the good news.

“It means a lot to me,” Stokes said of receiving the waiver. “I felt like God works in mysterious ways and would give me the opportunity when he could. Only something good can happen in return.”

Friday night Stokes found himself in a situation he had not been in since playing at Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. With rhe game on the line and the ball in his hands, Stokes sealed Hofstra’s first win of the season with a three pointer over the outstretched arm of Chad White. Stokes’ team-high 26 points Sunday helped the Pride defeat Marshall Sunday.

Stokes has started each of the last four games after getting his first start the previous sunday at Purdue. He scored 6 points in his first start at Purdue and has improved each game culminating in a career-high 26 Sunday.

“He got his feet underneath him and got some confidence and was able to perform at a high level down the stretch for us.”

Stokes played 103 out of 130 minutes Hofstra played over the three day weekend as well as scored the Pride’s final five points in their friday win. Add that to 11 free throws made Sunday, more than he’s ever attempted in a college game, and Stokes’ has continued to fill up the stat sheet.

Cassara said that Stokes has continued to adjust over the last week in practice and is beginning to show it in games.

“He’s done a great job over the last week of really listening and really understanding what we’re trying to do,” Cassara said. “If he continues to do that and really buy in and listen and continue to work harder. All those things are still a part of his progression and if he can continue to do those things he’s going to be a great player in this league and help us win a lot of games.”

For now Stokes said he would continue to work to improve at his game and help getting the team better.

“I just want to take every day and keep working hard,” Stokes said. “I know it’s five games into the season and we’re looking good but its still a long season up ahead of us. We still have a lot to learn, we got a lot to get better on but right now I’m happy with how I’ve been playing and also my teammates.”

Taran Buie, transferred from Penn State to Hofstra but sat out the first two games due to a suspension. His first shot, a three pointer, went right in. Head coach Mo Cassara said that the pressure came right off when Buie made his first three pointer. Continue reading “Video: Buie’s First Shot for Pride” →

Big Apple Buckets has video of Shaquille Stokes game winning three pointer with three seconds left that won the game for the Pride. South Dakota State’s last second push barely missed tying the game. Continue reading “Video: Hofstra’s Stokes game-winning three” →

With the seconds left in a tie game Hofstra sophomore Shaquille Stokes was not worried about having the ball in his hands with the chance to win.

The Hawaii transfer, who was recently granted a Hardship Waiver from the NCAA to play right away, had the ball near half court and under 10 seconds left in a tie game.

“I know Taran [Buie] and Stevie [Mejia] kept calling for the ball,” Stokes said. “I waved them off saying, ‘I’m going to have to shoot this one.'”

Stokes nailed a three pointer over a defender’s hand with three seconds left to give Hofstra a 66-63 lead. A last second push was made by South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters up to Brayden Carlson but his shot hit the rim, securing the victory of the season for Hofstra.

Wolters would push the Jackrabbits back into the game with three points to cut the lead to one and tie the game at 63 with 32 seconds left. He led South Dakota State with 25 points and 10 rebounds on 9 of 18 shooting.

Mejia led the Pride in the second half with clutch plays and active defense on South Dakota State’s leading scorer Nate Wolters. Mejia, seen pounding the hardwood floor several times throughout the contest, picked Wolters pocket at half court and his subsequent layup gave the Pride a 48-43 lead with 10:56 left in the game. Mejia scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half for the Pride who shot 50% from two point range in the second half.

“Just stay in front of him, try to be a pest,” Mejia said of how he defended Wolters. “Every time he has the ball just try and be in front of him and let him know I’m there.”

“He’s a great player, his numbers show but most importantly we got the win. I’m glad about that.”

Hofstra head coach Mo Cassara said that he and his staff argued about how they wanted to defend Wolters for the entire week before deciding to place Mejia with the task of guarding the Summit League’s Preseason Player of the Year.

“He’s a tough guard,” Cassara said of Wolters. “We were arguing in my office for the last three days every day on how we were going to guard him. I walked out a couple of times because we couldn’t agree.”

Hofstra was able to hold Wolters down with active man to man defense and the occasional double team, forcing him to turn the ball over three times. However Wolters’ three pointer at the end of the first half gave the Jackrabbits a 32-31 lead.

“The play that actually bothered me was the end of the first half,” Cassara said. “If the shot clock’s going down at the end of the game or the half run at him make him pass the ball and kick it to somebody. He actually hit one late in the game too where I think we backed off. He’s a terrific player and he makes you make mistakes.”

Wolters made a three pointer with 1:28 left to cut Hofstra lead to one at 61-60 and a three pointer with 32 seconds left to tie the game at 63. Stokes responded to each one with a dribble drive floater to give Hofstra a 63-60 lead and the game winning three pointer.

Taran Buie made his Hofstra debut off the bench and missed only one free throw in the first half. Buie knocked down his first look, a three pointer, to give the Pride an 11-8 lead early. Buie ended up tying a team-high 14 points with Mejia on 4 of 7 shooting.

“It felt great,” Buie said. “It’s been a long journey a long two years since I’ve been on the court.”

“There’s been a lot of off the court stuff that I’ve had to get through to get to this place so I’m very proud of myself for making it back on the court and then playing as well as I did today. But I just want to give that credit to my coaches for sticking with me and believing in me through the whole thing.”

Buie, transferred from Penn State but sat out the first two games of the season due to a violation of team rules. His 14 points off the bench helped Hofstra beat South Dakota State 26-7 in bench points.

“The first two games we played we just struggled to score,” Cassara said. “Turan came off made a couple shots for us got us going.”

“When that first shot went in [for Turan], it was almost like the pressure just came off everybody because all of the sudden we’ve got another threat to score. He’s got his feet underneath him and then all of the sudden we put the ball in the basket. It’s amazing when you’re putting the ball in the basket you play a little harder on defense.”

Hofstra led by as many as five points in a game that saw 10 ties and nine lead changes.

Jimmy Hall, who led Hofstra with 17 points in their last game against Purdue, grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds. Hall was in on second chances throughout the second half and his spin move to the basket with 5:06 left gave the Pride a 57-52 lead.

The Jackrabbits would break a 16-16 deadlock in the first half with a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 23-16. The Pride would respond right back with a run of their own to tie the game at 25 led by 7 points from Buie. Wolters three pointer on the final possession of the half gave South Dakota State a 32-31 halftime edge. The Jackrabbits made just two of their 12 three pointers during the first half and just five of their 20 attempts for the game.

“I thought we contested every shot,” Cassara said. “They share the ball as well as any team I’ve ever coached against.”

The win was the ninth straight home opening win for Hofstra, dating back to the 2004-05 season. They will have a chance to win two straight when they face Division II District of Columbia on Saturday followed by a matchup with Marshall of Conference USA on Sunday.