HOFSTRA HANGS ON FOR 67-63 WIN OVER FAU

12/30/2009 2:00:00 AM

Boca Raton, Fla. (Dec. 29) - Junior guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) had 15 of his 17 points in the first half and junior Nathaniel Lester (Brooklyn, NY) had 14 of his 17 in the second half and added a key steal in the final minute as the Hofstra Men's Basketball team escaped with a 67-63 road win over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday evening at FAU Arena.

With the win, the Pride improves to 8-5 on the season, snapping a modest two-game losing streak, while Florida Atlantic falls to 5-8 with the loss, its fourth straight defeat.

The Pride led for almost all of the first half, but settled for a one-point lead at the break as Alex Tucker hit an off-balance 15-footer just before the buzzer to make the score 33-32. Jenkins had 15 points in the first half, including a three-pointer which gave the Pride its largest lead of the opening stanza at 22-14.

A three-pointer from freshman guard Raymond Taylor gave Florida Atlantic a 43-41 lead with 12:03 to play, its first lead since 4-2 in the opening minutes. It was short-lived, though, as Hofstra answered with a 12-0 run despite Jenkins being on the bench with four fouls. Junior forward Greg Washington (Centereach, NY) converted down low off a feed from freshman guard Chaz Williams (Brooklyn, NY) for an old-fashioned three-point play to give Hofstra the lead for good.

Washington then blocked two consecutive FAU post moves, grabbing the defensive rebounds each time. The first one led to a three-point play on the fast break from Lester to make the score 47-43. Williams then hit a 10-foot runner, before capping off the run with a feed to fellow freshman Halil Kanacevic (Staten Island, NY) to stretch the lead to 53-43 with 9:09 left.

Taylor snapped the Hofstra run with a three-pointer to start a 9-0 Owl run that made the score 53-52 with 7:09 to play. Lester answered with a jumper, then followed his own miss for a lay-up to push the margin back to five at 57-52. Taylor made the score 57-56 with a long two-pointer, but freshman forward David Imes (Brooklyn, NY) scored on a put-back and Lester added two foul shots to give Hofstra back its five-point lead at 61-56.

Jenkins fouled out with 2:20 remaining, and Sanchez Hughley made two foul shots to cut the lead to three. A Tucker jumper in the paint pulled the Owls within one at 61-60. After a Hofstra turnover, Lester stepped in to steal an alley-oop attempt from Florida Atlantic coming out of a time-out, then made both foul shots with 35 seconds left to help seal the win. Williams hit three of four foul shots, with Kanacevic stepping in to pull down a key offensive rebound on the one miss and the Pride ahead by three.

Lester's 17 points snapped a streak of five straight games without scoring in double figures. Hofstra is 5-0 this season when he scores 10 or more, and 12-1 in the last two years. Williams finished with 12 points for his third straight game in double figures, while Washington had 13 rebounds and four blocks. Hughley led Florida Atlantic with 14 points, while Taylor added 13.

Hofstra also improved to 4-0 this season in games decided by five points or less, as well as 17-3 in the last two years. The Pride led the nation in close wins last year, finishing 13-3 in games decided by five or less.

Hofstra will next be in action on Saturday when it returns home to the Mack Sports Complex to resume Colonial Athletic Association play with a game against William & Mary at 4 p.m. William & Mary is 8-2 with an eight-game winning streak heading into its Wednesday night game at Maryland.

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