The men’s basketball team opened the season with a 91-62 win over Hofstra on Friday night as Andrew Nicholas scored a career-high 28 points.
“If I get the first shot to go in, I feel pretty comfortable for the rest of the game,” Nicholas said. “Coach just tells me to keep shooting it because I’m a shooter. Even if I miss two or three in a row, which I do sometimes, he just tells me to keep shooting.”
“Red (Nicholas) could leave here the all-time leading scorer,” head coach King Rice said. “He can just score the ball, it’s easy for him. He just makes shots.”
The Hawks (1-0, 0-0) opened the game with a 15-3 run and never relinquished the lead. They trailed 3-2 early in the game, but a Nicholas three-pointer put them ahead for good.
The Pride (0-1) responded with a 14-4 run to make it a 19-17 game halfway through the first half.
Dion Nesmith was fouled and made one of his free throws, putting MU ahead 20-17. The next trip down the floor, Ed Waite made a layup and was fouled. After connecting on the foul shot, the Hawks led 23-17. It was time for Nicholas to take over and put the Blue and White comfortably ahead of their Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opponent.
Nicholas drilled a corner three to put his team ahead by nine and Hofstra took a time out. The MU defense stiffened and Nicholas hit another three, making it a 29-17 game.
Stevie Mejia connected on a three-pointer of his own for the Pride. Nicholas matched him at the other end of the floor to put the lead back at 12, 32-20.
Nicholas scored four more points before heading into halftime. The sophomore forward scored 18 points in the first half to lead the Hawks to a 50-31 lead. It was the first time MU scored 50 points in a half since a 2009 win over Penn at the MAC.
“In the first half they were trying to press us, but we were just running through it,” Jesse Steele said. “We were getting quick and easy buckets in the beginning.”
The closest the Pride got to catching the Hawks came halfway through the second half. They cut the lead to 12 when Shaquille Stokes made a free throw.
“When they made their run, I think I got a little more nervous than the kids,” Rice said. “I thought at that point when they were making their run, we just started taking bad shots, because they are kids. Kids feel like, ‘We are winning by 16 I can do this now!’ and that was when they made their run. So I wasn’t nervous that they were going to come back and take over. I know they are very talented guys, when they get going they can go on a run just like we went on one. I watched it on their exhibition game. But I knew that if we just made them start guarding us again and our motion offense… I knew the movement would give them problems.”
The Blue and White silenced any chance of a comeback. You guessed it. Nicholas connected on a jumper to put the team back up 14, 66-52. Mejia made a free throw on the next possession. A minute later, Nicholas made another basket that put the Hawks on top 68-53.
Mejia made two free throws for Hofstra and Nicholas did the same for MU, keeping the lead at 15.
Enter Jesse Steele.
The senior point guard picked up two fouls early in the first half and didn’t play too many minutes. Steele hadn’t scored any points until there were six minutes remaining in the game. He stole the ball and raced down court for an uncontested layup to get on the board. Following a Hofstra layup, Steele drilled a three-pointer to put his team ahead 75-57.
A minute later, Steele made another three. On Hofstra’s next possession, he stole the ball and raced for another layup.
After not scoring for 34 minutes, Steele scored 10 points in just over two minutes. He finished the game with 10 points and six assists.
The Hawks subbed out some of the starters and cruised to a 29-point victory. Every player that got in the game scored.
“We have a lot of kids,” Rice said. “We have 14 to 15 guys that can play. Every dude on our bench can go in and play.”
MU’s next home game is on Monday, November 26 against Lafayette.
