Hofstra vying to be ‘the hunted’ after stunning Syracuse upset continues strong start

Hofstra men’s basketball may have just juiced the Syracuse Orange for the first time ever, but the squad is thirsty for more.

“I’ve got a team that is full of confidence,” head coach Speedy Claxton told The Post following the thrilling 70-69 victory at JMA Wireless Dome last Saturday.

“They believe in themselves, and they believe that every time we go on the court, we can win the game.”

The team’s stunning upset — only the seventh time ’Cuse lost at home to a New York team this century — came on the heels of another ACC takedown, as the 8-4 Pride beat Pittsburgh 80-73 days before.

Coming out on top of the catfight with the Panthers made its way into Claxton’s pregame address.

“I said to the team, ‘We pulled that one off, so why not do it two times in a row?’ ”

He now puts the “monumental” program victory neck and neck with the time his Pride went medieval on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a 2023 NIT 88-86 overtime thriller.

“I got tons of text messages,” Claxton said after pulping the Orange, but ironically enough, he didn’t schedule Syracuse to try to make a national statement.

“Honestly, it wasn’t a hard trip,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to go to, like, Nebraska or Mississippi.”

Regardless of the intentions, people are paying attention to what’s happening in the lion’s den.

“I think everybody is starting to take notice of what we’re doing this year,” said Claxton, a former Hofstra player who won an NBA title with the Spurs in 2003.

“We’re going to be the hunted now.”

Long Island’s hockey community will come together in celebration of Massapequa’s Connor Kasin, a varsity defenseman who tragically passed away during the intermission of a game in December 2024.

The Chiefs varsity will face rival Farmingdale at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the Town of Oyster Bay ice rink in Bethpage following a Massapequa split-squad game at 5 p.m. during Kasin’s memorial night.