City of Basketball Love

Aron Minkoff (@AronMInkoff)

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In front of family, friends and former coaches, Hofstra star Juan’ya Green made one last appearance in his hometown.

The 6-foot-3 Archbishop Carroll product did not have the best game of his storied career, but it was just enough, as his Hofstra Pride edged Drexel by a score of 70-64 on Saturday afternoon.

“It was a great environment, a lot of people here. So I am just glad, overall, that we came away with the win,” Green said.

A return home is always meaningful and the type of game that Green looks forward to each season. In his last collegiate game in Philadelphia, some 30-plus family and friends were in attendance, including his parents who were not shy about who they were rooting for.

Green did not exactly put on a show for the friendly crowd, but he still finished with 15 points seven rebounds and five assists, but he has looked sensational this season for the Pride.

With the game on the line, following a Tavon Allen game-tying 3-pointer, Green went to the line and connected on a pair of free throws to give the Pride a 66-64 lead with a shade over a minute remaining.

Hofstra would lead the rest of the way as Green’s clutch free throw shooting proved to be fatal to the Dragons cause.

“It felt good,” Green said. “I am just glad that we fought back. We had a bad first half so we turned it up the second half defensively.”

That first half was an obscenely bad shooting performance for a team that entered the game connecting on 44 percent of their shots. The Pride shot just 33.3 percent from the field in the first half, including an astonishingly poor 0-12 from 3-point range.

The steady senior entered Saturday averaging 17.8 ppg along with 6.9 apg. He is one of four active players in Division I with 2,000 points scored - and is 31 points away from becoming the fourth player all-time to record 1,000 points at two different programs. He scored 1,131 in two seasons with Niagara.

He has received quite a bit of praise, including some rumored interest from NBA teams.

With his help, the Pride now sit at 16-6 on the season, including an 8-2 mark in CAA play, which is good enough for first place in the conference.

“Just want to finish out the last bit of games on a winning streak,” Green said. “Just compete everyday in practice, and get ready for the tournament.”