The blowout-victory was expected. The disappointment afterwards was not.
The Long Island University men’s basketball team cruised to a 78–40 win over John Jay in the squad’s season-opener on Nov. 11, but there weren’t many smiles on the Balckbirds’ bench after the final buzzer. Senior guard Joel Hernanzdez — the team’s unquestioned leader this season — suffered a dislocated thumb in the waning minutes of the game, and the questions surrounding his injury left the squad with a bitter taste in its mouth.
“[The starters] wanted to go for one more stint, and I’m like, ‘That’s fine — two minutes and that’s it,’ and now I’m regretting that,” Long Island University coach Jack Perri said. “[Hernandez’s] thumb did pop out. He just landed on it. It was a freakish thing.”
Hernandez’s injury was the focus after the game, but the Blackbirds (1–0) performance on the court was nothing short of dominant. Long Island University jumped out to an early 14–2 lead, leaving John Jay head coach Ryan Hyland searching for answers.
The Bloodhounds — who counted the matchup as an exhibition game — called timeout and switched into a 2–3 zone, which appeared effective at first, but it didn’t take long for the Blackbirds to respond.
“We didn’t know what they were going to do,” Perri said. “The trap might have thrown us off a little bit and made us a little bit more tentative, but then I think we were fine once we were able to get the ball down low again.”
Long Island University took a 41–17 lead into halftime and didn’t let up on the gas after the break. Jerome Frink was a force in the post, hauling in a game-high 16 rebounds to go along with his 17 points. He also dished out three assists and finished 8-of-11 from the free-throw line.
“He did what he was supposed to do tonight,” Perri said of Frink. “He’s a big-time offensive rebounder, and he’s great in the post. He’s our horse, and we’re going to ride him.”
Perri got every one of his 13 players on the court — 12 of whom put points on the board — in the victory and, in the end, the Blackbird were simply bigger and stronger than the squad’s Division-III opponent. Still, Perri believes there’s room for improvement after the team shot 43 percent from the floor and was just 6-of-22 from distance.
The Blackbirds take to the road this weekend for the Steve Wright Classic in Boston with match-ups against Northeastern, Boston University, and Maine, looking to build on the season-opening win. But the focus right now is on Hernandez’s injury and his status with the team.
“[The trainers] want to do an X-ray and make sure there is nothing torn, no fracture of some sort,” Perri said. “Obviously, prayers for him. We don’t want anything to happen to our big gun there.”
