Homecoming probably couldn’t come at a better time for Virginia Commonwealth University’s men’s basketball team.
The Rams exchanged leads with Hofstra 11 times in the first half and shot 52 percent in the second half of Wednesday night’s game against Hofstra, but couldn’t overcome the homestanding Pride, falling 60-58 at Hofstra Arena.
VCU (7-4 CAA, 11-9) had seemingly bounced back from a scare at William & Mary and a loss to James Madison by beating Colonial Athletic Association leader Old Dominion and then pounding the Dukes two days later.
But the loss to Hofstra (6-5, 14-6) snaps the five-game winning streak the Rams had going on the road after starting the season by dropping five straight away games.
Saturday night’s homecoming game against Towson (5 p.m.) could be a pick-me-up for the Rams considering the Tigers haven’t won since beating James Madison 86-69 on Jan. 19.
But nothing’s guaranteed.
Capel made it a point that Saturday’s win over the Monarchs wasn’t an aberration, but after the past two weeks’ games it could be argued that the Rams play up or down to their competition.
“I hope not,” head coach Jeff Capel said after Saturday’s game against Old Dominion, “if we want to be a team that wins consistently.”
B.A. Walker scored 11 points for the Rams and Nick George led all scorers with 19 points to go with his six rebounds.
The junior forward scored 11 in the second half, but at the same time, the Rams were trying to come up with a solution for Antoine Aguilo, who scored 16 of his 18 points after the break.
The Rams led for about eight minutes in the first half after senior Michael Doles hit a jumper with 9:51 to make the score 15-14.
Doles finished with 15 points and six rebounds. His jumper with a little more than six minutes left in the first half gave the Rams their largest lead of the game, a 24-17 advantage.
Guard Carlos Rivera, who scored all of his 15 points in the first half, scored 7 points in seven minutes, including hitting twice from the free-throw line as the Pride closed in on the Rams lead.
His partner in the backcourt, Loren Stokes, sank another. Then Wendell Gibson hit 3 of 4 to give the Pride a 30-29 lead at halftime, which they never relinquished.
Aguilo opened the second half with a three-pointer that gave the Pride a 4-point lead. He hit another 3-pointer with about four minutes left in the game, giving the Pride a 7-point lead as the Rams rallied.
After Doles hit a 3-pointer to cut Hofstra’s lead to 3 points, Aguilo assisted on a lay-up by Mike Radziewjewski that gave a five-point cushion to close out the final 31 seconds.
After Saturday’s game against Towson, the Rams have another stretch of road games against Drexel on Feb. 9 and Old Dominion on Feb. 12.