Hofstra Men’s Basketball Huddle. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
The Hofstra Men’s Basketball team will travel to the Barclays Center, the home of the Brooklyn Nets (NBA), on Sunday, December 28 when the Pride face LIU Brooklyn at 2:30 p.m.
The game is part of a tripleheader as Tulane will take on St. John’s at 12 p.m. and the Hofstra game will be followed by Fairfield facing Loyola (MD) at 5 p.m.
There will be live video available via the Barclays Center website and Pride Productions live audio can be heard with the pregame show starting at 2 p.m. That broadcast can also be heard on WRHU (88.7 FM).
Hofstra (7-4), which has dropped two straight games, will be making its second-ever appearance in the Barclays Center. In 2012-13, Hofstra faced Tulane in its first game at the home of the Nets and future home of the New York Islanders (NHL).
In its last game on Tuesday, Hofstra dropped an 83-74 decision to La Salle despite 23 points from junior forward Ameen Tanksley. Junior guard Juan’ya Green added 15 points and 11 assists for his team-leading third double-double of the season, while junior forward Malik Nichols nearly picked up his third double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
With his 23-point outburst, Tanksley expanded on his team scoring lead as he now is averaging 18.7 points per outing, with Green second with 17.8 per contest. Tanksley and Nichols are the Pride’s two best rebounders currently as Tanksley is pulling down 5.9 caroms per game with Nichols following closely behind with 5.7. Green, who leads the conference and ranks 10th nationally in assists, has a team-best 72 in that category.
Tanksley is third nationally in three-point field goal percentage at 55.4%, while sophomore guard Brian Bernardi is 15th at 48.6%. The duo also ranks high in three-point field goals made per game with Bernardi 17th (3.27 per game) and Tanksley 56th (2.82).
LIU Brooklyn is 4-6 this season but has won four straight games coming into Sunday’s showdown. In the Blackbirds last game they defeated New Hampshire, 73-72, in overtime as Elvar Fridriksson had 19 points to lead the way.
Fridriksson leads LIU Brooklyn with 11.9 points per game and is the only Blackbird to average double figures. Three other players all average exactly 9.7 points per outing as Landon Atterberry, Gerrell Martin and Martin Hermannsson are all tied for second on the squad in scoring. Atterberry leads LIU Brooklyn with 6.4 rebounds per game, while Fridriksson had a team-high 44 assists.
The Hofstra/LIU Brooklyn series dates back to the 1958-59 season and Sunday’s meeting will mark the 30th all-time game between the two local rivals. Hofstra leads the series, 16-13, although the Blackbirds won the last meeting, 88-84, during the 2012-13 season. The Pride won the first-ever meeting, 97-62. Hofstra’s last win in the series came during the season opener in 2011-12 with the Pride earning an 89-71 victory.
Coach Mihalich is 1-0 all-time against Long Island Brooklyn, defeating the Blackbirds, 79-73, early in the 1998-99 season.
Hofstra is 108-58 all-time against the current members of the Northeast Conference, including a 93-71 win over Wagner on November 23.
Following the game against LIU Brooklyn, Hofstra will close the non-conference portion of its 2014-15 schedule on New Year’s Eve with a 4 p.m. game at Central Connecticut State. The Pride will then open Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play on Saturday, January 3 when they travel to North Carolina to face UNCW at 2 p.m.
For more information on the Hofstra Men’s Basketball team fans are encouraged to click here:
http://gohofstra.com/index.aspx
For more information on the Barclays Center fans are encouraged to click here: