Hofstra Wins ECAC Holiday Festival

December 27, 1998 / 8:37 PM EST / AP

Hofstra found itself in some new situations this weekend.

On Saturday, the Flying Dutchmen came up with arguably the biggest win in school history by beating Georgia Tech by 19 points.

On Sunday, they had a 21-point lead over Penn with 11:40 to play then held on for a 67-62 victory to win the ECAC Holiday Festival, Hofstra's first tournament title in eight years.

"This is the first time we've been in big time games like these," Hofstra coach Jay Wright said. "These young guys haven't been in a situation like that with the lead in a big game and sometimes you struggle and don't pull it out but they went through it, pulled it out and won it."

The Flying Dutchmen (7-4) had the crowd at Madison Square Garden wondering who was in those blue-and-white uniforms. For America East team to beat an Atlantic Coast Conference team in the first round was one thing. Taking a 21-point lead against the Ivy League favorite, which beat Temple and barely lost to Kansas this season, was quite a second step.

Hofstra managed to take big leads in both games through some great defense. Georgia Tech had 17 points in the first half Saturday and shot just 35 percent for the game. Penn was down 34-22 after shooting just 24 percent (6-of-25) in the first half.

Hofstra had the lead to 56-35 with 11:40 left on a 3-pointer by Mike Renfro. Penn (3-3) went on an 11-1 run, closing to 57-46 with 5:46 to play.

Then it seemed the Flying Dutchmen came up with the spurt they needed to take control. Tournament MVP Norman Richardson, who had 16 points and nine rebounds Sunday, hit a 3 and Jason Hernandez followed with a jumper that gave Hofstra a 62-46 lead with 5:06 to play.

But the Quakers then went on a 14-0 run to make it 62-60 with 1:41 left as Jed Ryan made two 3s and Hofstra suddenly couldn't score.

"I was thinking we better not lose this game," Richardson said. "I knew if we could keep together and keep our composure we would win."

The play that kept everyone on the Hofstra bench together and composed was a 3-pointer by Hernandez with 1:05 to play. The play started with the ball in Speedy Claxton's hands and it ended with his seventh assist to go with eight points.

"When we have to make a play we always turn to Speedy and he did," Wright said of his point guard.

"When Jason hit that 3 I knew we had it," Claxton said.

Not everyone else did.

Michael Jordan hit a shot in the lane as he was falling down with 42 seconds left to make it 65-62. Hofstra missed the front end of two 1-and-1s to give the Quakers two chances at tying it, but Ryan missed a 3 with 28 seconds left and Jordan, forced into a tough shot by some good perimeter defense, missed with three seconds left. Richardson made two free throws with .2 seconds left for the final margin.

"I got a good look I just didn't hit it," said Jordan, who finished with seven points on 3-of-13 shooting, including 1-for-5 from 3-point range.

Their guards played good defense on those last possessions," said Penn's Matt Langel, who finished with 14 points. "Michael got a decent look but not enough. We had a big way to come back and we didn't give ourselves enough time. We didn't play well enough for long enough."

Hofstra, which has won five straight, finished 11-for-17 from 3-point range with Richardson going 4-for-5 and Hernandez, who had 15 points, 3-for-4.

Ryan had 14 points, 13 in the second half, for the Quakers, who shot 39 percent for the game (20-for-51).

"They guard you well but we still shot just 6-for-25 in the first half and played poorly for the first 32 minutes," Penn coach Fran Dunphy said.

Hofstra last won a tournament when it won the Hatter Classic in 1990.

"We're almost numb right now," Wright said. "This is a great day for our program and these young men. They believe in each other and they believe that no matter what they wear on their uniform they can win. This Holiday Festival, to Hofstra, is as big as it gets."