Hofstra's season ended by Cincinnati in second round of NIT

There was one minute and one second left on the clock when Aaron Estrada made the slow walk to the home bench.

The first person to greet him was Speedy Claxton, who enveloped the guard with a long hug and a few words. After a moment or two, Estrada made his way to an empty seat and sat down, a towel draped over his head.

A remarkable era of Hofstra men’s basketball may have come to an end Saturday afternoon at the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex with a 79-65 loss to Cincinnati in the second round of the NIT.

“We had a special year,” Claxton said of the Pride (25-10). “This was a special team.”

“People had no egos,” Tyler Thomas said. “That’s why we worked out so well.”

Estrada, the two-time Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, had 18 points in what might have been his last collegiate game, although he does have an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thomas and Darlinstone Dubar each finished with 16.

Cincinnati (23-12), which will meet the winner of Sunday’s Utah Valley-Colorado game in the quarterfinals, was led by Landers Nolley II’s 20 points. Viktor Lahkin had 16 points and eight rebounds, David DeJulius added 15 points and nine assists and Ody Oguama had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

From the opening tip, Cincinnati’s game plan was obvious to the 2,228 in attendance: Get the ball inside and take advantage of its size on the offensive and defensive glass.

The Bearcats led 40-37 after a possession-by-possession first half in which they outrebounded Hofstra 23-10, including 15-8 on the defensive glass and 8-2 in offensive rebounds. Cincinnati also enjoyed advantages in second-chance points (10-1) and points in the paint (16-10).

“Their physicality,” Claxton said when asked what the difference in the game was. Cincinnati outrebounded Hofstra 42-27 and outscored the Pride 40-28 in the paint.

“They’re a high-major program,” Claxton said. “They’re big at every position and I think ultimately that kind of wore us down through the course of the game.”

So why did Hofstra trail by only three at halftime? Its three-point shooting and free-throw shooting, as well as being carried by its stars.

The Pride made 6 of 11 three-pointers and 7 of 9 free throws in the opening 20 minutes, and the triumvirate of Thomas (14 points), Dubar (11 points) and Estrada (nine points) had a combined 34 of Hofstra’s 39 points.

Cincinnati opened the second half with a 15-8 spurt spanning the first 8:09. Mika Adams-Woods’ steal and breakaway layup extended the Bearcats’ lead to 55-45.

Hofstra responded with two layups by Estrada and German Plotnikov’s alley-oop dunk to cut the deficit to 57-51. But Dan Skillings Jr.’s second-chance basket, Jeremiah Davenport’s layup, Oguama’s layup and Adams-Woods’ three-pointer extended Cincinnati’s lead to 66-53.