Poor defense is to blame for Hofstra in CAA loss to Towson

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Speedy Claxton lifted his hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. A moment earlier, Zach Cooks had thrown himself in desperation at Towson’s Jason Gibson, who had stopped at the top of the three-point line and had room.

The cooks made contact with Gibson and a whistle sounded. Fault in shooting. Three shots.

It was a moment that summed up how the night had gone for Hofstra.

“We definitely got what we deserved,” Claxton said after Hofstra’s 78-68 loss to Towson on Thursday at the David S. Mack Sports and Entertainment Complex.

Hofstra has lost two straight and is 13-9 overall and 5-4 in CAA after the first of three home conference games in five days. The James Madison Pride host Saturday afternoon and UNCW Monday.

“I like that we don’t have a lot of time to rest,” Claxton said. “We have to have short-term memory and move on.”

There will certainly be a precious little Claxton and the Pride will want to remember the second and final regular season matchup against the Tigers. In the first meeting, a 78-66 loss on Jan. 11, Hofstra allowed Towson to tie a school record with 16 three-pointers.

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This time, defense was still a major concern for Pride.

At the end of the first half, the Tigers had taken 69.6% of their shots from the field (16 for 23, including 8 for 11 of three (72.7%) and led 43-33. In comparison, Hofstra shot 33.3% from three (5 for 15) and 42.9% (12 for 28) overall.

There is more.

In the space of seven minutes and twenty-one seconds, Towson knocked down 10 straight shots from the field and in doing so turned a 21-16 deficit into a 40-31 lead. In that same streak, the Pride only managed 3 out of 10 shots.

“We didn’t play any defence,” was Claxton’s analysis of the first half. “There is a lack of it. It was a problem.”

Hofstra started the second half playing noticeably more aggressively in defense, but the Tigers used that to their advantage by getting to the foul line 22 times and making it 17. While Hofstra only took – and made six free throws – for the entire game, while attempting 29 three-point shots.

Claxton said he didn’t mind.

“We looked great,” Claxton said. “You could say if we weren’t getting a good look but they were shooting wide open and we have good 3-point shooters. You want them to be confident and if they look good , shoot. They just don’t have ‘I won’t fall in love with us tonight.’

Aaron Estrada led the Pride with 22 points. Nicolas Timberlake led all scorers with 26.

By Denis P. Gorman Special for Newsday

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