Junior guard Gary Neal scored 34 points, including 12 in the final 2:09, as the Towson Men's Basketball team held off Hofstra for a 94-91 win on Thursday evening at the Towson Center.
With the loss, the Pride sees its six-game win streak snapped as it falls to 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The 10-3 record still matches Hofstra's best record through 13 games in its 33 years at the NCAA Division I level. Towson improves to 7-7 overall and 3-2 in the CAA with the victory.
Neal's efforts helped spoil career scoring nights for sophomore guard Antoine Agudio (Huntington Station, NY) and junior guard Carlos Rivera (San German, PR - pictured). Agudio finished with 29 points, eclipsing his previous high of 24 which he had accomplished on two occasions. Rivera, meanwhile, finished with 25 points, breaking his previous high of 23 which he set as a freshman against Virginia Commonwealth.
The Pride also set a school record with 15 three-pointers in the loss, eclipsing the previous record of 14 set against James Madison in 2002-03. Agudio tied his career high with six threes, while Rivera added five, one shy of his career best. It was also the highest-scoring game that the Pride has been involved in since a 103-83 loss to Vermont in 1995-96 season, and the most points it has scored in a loss since a 104-97 defeat to New Hampshire in the season opener of the 1994-95 campaign, which was Jay Wright's first game as the Hofstra head coach.
Agudio nearly willed the Pride to the win after it trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half, and by nine in the second half. Hofstra was down 84-80 with 2:09 to play, when Agudio hit back-to-back three-pointers, sandwiched around a pair of foul shots by Neal, to tie the score at 86-86 with 1:13 to play. Neal, however, got back to the free throw line and converted both, and after the Pride missed two tying baskets, Neal converted two more foul shots to stretch the lead to 90-86 with 21 seconds left.
Junior guard Loren Stokes (Buffalo, NY) went coast-to-coast for a lay-up to pull the Pride within 90-88, and Neal missed his second foul shot, but junior forward Winstonn Tubbs came up with a huge offensive rebound and made one of two free throws to stretch the lead to 92-88. Senior forward Aurimas Kieza (Marijampole, Lithuania) followed with a tough leaning three-pointer to pull Hofstra within 92-91, and Neal's two foul shots with five seconds left made the score 94-91. Agudio got a look at a tying three under heavy pressure from Neal, but it hit off the back rim to give Towson the win.
Hofstra took a 45-43 lead into halftime after digging itself out of an early hole. Towson scored the game's first five points and took its largest lead of the game at 27-12 on a three-pointer from junior forward Dennard Abraham. After an exchange of three-pointers made the score 30-15, the Pride went on a 15-3 run, keyed by nine points from Agudio, to pull back within 33-30.
A fast-break lay-up from Stokes gave the Pride its first lead of the game at 42-41 with 18 seconds left in the half, and after a pair of foul shots from freshman guard Tim Crossin, freshman swingman Zygis Sestokas (Vilnius, Lithuania) beat the first half buzzer with a three-pointer from the left corner to give the Pride a 45-43 lead at the break.
Agudio added a career-high tying seven assists to go with his 29 points. Stokes finished with 19 points, while Kieza had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman forward Chris Gadley (Buffalo, NY) played a career-high 25 minutes off the bench and added a team-high 11 rebounds in the loss. Senior forward Lawrence Hamm finished with 22 points on 10-of-15 shooting for Towson, which shot 56.9 percent for the game, including 61.5 percent in the second half (16-26). Freshman point guard Tim Crossin added 10 points, 10 assists and no turnovers for the Tigers.
Hofstra will next be in action when it returns home to Hofstra Arena to entertain UNC Wilmington on Saturday at 4 p.m. That game will be televised live on the MSG Network.
