Hofstra beats host Rutgers in first round of NIT
Nelson Boachie-Yiadom and German Plotnikov of the Hofstra Pride celebrate after defeating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in overtime of a first-round NIT game at Jersey Mike's Arena on Tuesday in Piscataway, N.J. Credit: Getty Images/Rich Schultz
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The final chapter in the Aaron Estrada book at Hofstra has yet to be written.
His teammates made sure of that.
The redshirt senior’s career with the Pride will have at least one more chapter after Hofstra’s 88-86 overtime win over Rutgers in the first round of the postseason NIT at Jersey Mike’s Arena Tuesday night.
“That’s what makes this team special,” coach Speedy Claxton said. “They really play for each other."
Hofstra (25-9) will meet the winner of Wednesday night’s matchup between Cincinnati and Virginia Tech in a second round game next week.
“Look at the (NIT) field as a whole,” Claxton said. “Some pretty good teams …This field is loaded.”
Tyler Thomas led the Pride with 25 points. Darlinstone Dubar finished with 17. Estrada scored 13 points before fouling out. Jaquan Carlos chipped in with 12, and Nelson Boachie-Yiadom had 10.
Trailing 64-58 with 6:51 remaining in regulation, and without Estrada who had fouled out, the Pride outscored Rutgers 16-10 to force overtime.
And it took a minor miracle to get to the extra session.
Caleb McConnell converted a follow dunk and alley-oop with less than a minute left in regulation to give Rutgers (19-15) a 74-69 lead.
Following a timeout, Thomas knocked down a three to close the deficit to two. And Yiadom’s putback with 2.2 seconds left tied the score at 74.
“It’s pretty cool,” Yiadom said of his tying basket.
The teams traded baskets to open the extra session. After Cam Spencer’s three brought Rutgers to within 83-82, Dubar drilled a three of his own to extend the lead to four.
But Derek Simpson (19 points) scored the next four points for Rutgers to tie it at 86.
Thomas’ jumper with 10 seconds left gave Hofstra a two-point lead, and when Simpson’s runner at the buzzer rimmed out, the Pride had advanced.
"It's almost like a heavyweight boxing match," Yiadom said. "Keep swinging."
Hofstra trailed 40-35 at halftime. The Pride missed 7 of 10 three-point attempts in the half, and committed eight turnovers.
The Pride’s inability to contain Cam Spencer (22 points) was a significant issue. Rutgers’ junior guard scored 16 points in the first half on 6-for-10 shooting overall, including 4-for-6 from three point range.
Despite falling behind by 10 points just 5:23 into the game, the Pride did not let Rutgers extend its lead.
“Next play mentality,” Thomas said in response to a question about Hofstra’s resiliency. “We (tried) to rely on our defense (and) rebounding. We tried to hone in on that when we’d get down six, eight (points).”
