Senior guard Leonard Mendez celebrated his Senior Day with 27 points to lead the Georgia State Men's Basketball team to a 76-55 win over Hofstra on Wednesday evening at the GSU Sports Arena, snapping the Pride's five-game winning streak.
Hofstra, which falls to 19-10 overall and 10-7 in the CAA, was led by sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) with 19 points, who was the only Pride player in double figures. Hofstra missed out on a chance to move into position to clinch the fourth seed and a bye in the CAA Tournament, as Drexel suffered a one-point loss to Northeastern. The Pride can still get the fourth seed, but only if it wins on Saturday against UNC Wilmington, and Drexel (at William & Mary) and Old Dominion (at Northeastern) both lose. Georgia State improves to 11-18 and 8-9 in the CAA with the win, its first ever in the series with Hofstra after losing the first five since joining the CAA in 2005-06.
The Pride went into the locker room trailing 46-27, after falling behind by as many as 21 points in the opening stanza. Leonard Mendez had 18 of his points in the first half alone, while Trae Goldston had 12 after making his first four three-point attempts in the first 12 minutes to get the Panthers off and running. Hofstra was within 32-23 at the 4:48 mark after sophomore forward Greg Washington (Centereach, NY) hit back-to-back baskets down low, but Mendez hit a three-pointer to start a 14-2 run that gave Georgia State its largest lead at 46-25.
Hofstra rallied at the start of the second half behind Jenkins, who scored 12 points in the first 8:05 of the second stanza to get the Pride back to within 52-43 at the 11:52 mark. However, Georgia State responded with a 13-0 run to salt the game away. The Panthers stretched their lead to as many as 26 points at 72-46, before settling for the 76-55 win.
Georgia State shot 53.1 percent from the floor for the game, including 61.5 percent in the first half (16-26). Hofstra shot 43.5 percent (20-46), losing for the first time this season when it shoots 40 percent from the floor (12-1). Washington finished with nine points, and senior forward Dane Johnson (Brooklyn, NY) had eight points and six rebounds off the bench. The Pride was playing without senior forward Darren Townes (New York, NY), who did not make the trip due to illness, but it saw the return of junior forward Miklos Szabo (Szeghalom, Hungary), who missed six weeks after breaking his arm on Jan. 17 against Northeastern. Goldston finished with 15 points for Georgia State, joining Mendez (27) in double-figures for the Panthers.
Hofstra will next be in action when it closes out the regular season with a home game against UNC Wilmington on Saturday at 4 p.m. It will also be Senior Day for the Pride's six seniors, with the pregame ceremony taking place at 3:40 p.m., while former player Rich Laurel (1973-77) will have his jersey number retired at halftime.
The UNC Wilmington game will be televised live on the Madison Square Garden Network. To purchase men's basketball tickets, visit our website at hofstra.edu/athletics or call 516-HOF-TIXX (516-463-8499).
