Former Hofstra Men's Basketball player Rick Apodaca (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen HS) scored five fourth-quarter points as the Puerto Rico Men's Basketball team fell 98-90 to Lithuania on Tuesday in its second preliminary round game at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Apodaca, the first Hofstra student-athlete to ever compete in an Olympic games, played a total of 11 minutes for Puerto Rico and shot 2-for-3 from the floor. He hit a running five-foot bank shot and a three-pointer in the fourth quarter to try to help his team back from a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit. Apodaca also played one minute in Puerto Rico's historic 92-73 upset win over the United States on Sunday, when he officially became the first Hofstra student-athlete to take part in an Olympic Games. Former Pride wrestler Nick Gallo was an alternate on the United States Wrestling team in the 1976 Summer Olympics, but he did not compete.
Apodaca scored 1,422 points for Hofstra from 1999-2003, ranking him ninth all-time in Pride history. He is also second all-time in school history with 190 three-pointers made and was a second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection in 2001-02. He was a part of two NCAA Tournament teams with the Pride, including the 2000-01 team which finished 26-5 to tie the school record for wins in a season.
Hofstra also played a game at Florida International in the 2000-01 season, allowing Apodaca to play head-to-head against current Puerto Rican teammate and Utah Jazz guard Carlos Arroyo. Apodaca had the better of the match-up, scoring 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting, compared to Arroyo's 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting, as the Pride won 78-50. Arroyo scored 24 points against the United States and added 25 in the loss to Lithuania.
Apodaca was born in New York City and grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, but both of his parents are of Puerto Rican descent. The Hofstra Men's Basketball team has continued with its Puerto Rican connection as two current members of the Pride -- sophomore guard Carlos Rivera and freshman guard Jorge Lebron are from Puerto Rico.
