Sophomore forward Greg Washington (Centereach, NY) nailed a clutch jump shot with 30.9 seconds remaining, breaking a 68-68 tie to give the Hofstra Men's Basketball team a 71-68 victory over Towson in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup Saturday afternoon at the Mack Sports Complex.

With the win, the Pride improves to 15-9 overall and 7-6 in the CAA, while also improving to 10-2 this season in games decided by five points or less. Towson slips to 8-17 overall and 3-10 in league play.

Washington capped a flurry under the basket that featured two Pride offensive rebounds before he made a high-arching jumper from the left wing to hand Hofstra a 70-68 lead. Junior guard Josh Thornton hit four three-pointers for Towson and was 4-9 from the field, but his potential game-tying 20-foot shot near the arc fell short of the rim and went out-of-bounds with an even two seconds left on the clock, preserving the Hofstra victory.

Sophomore guard Nathaniel Lester (Brooklyn, NY - pictured) scored five straight points to break a tie late in the second half and put Hofstra ahead 66-61. Lester had all but two of his career-high 21 points in the second half. Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) added a game-high 24 points in just 27 minutes after picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, and Arminas Urbutis (Kaunas, Lithuania) scored a career-high 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his first double-double.

Junior Hairston scored a team-high 23 points for Towson, including a three-pointer that tied it at 68 with 1:11 left before Washington's go-ahead basket. The Pride, which trailed by as much as 12 points in the contest, opened up a late lead when Lester scored five straight points to break a 61-all tie with 3:15 remaining. Lester earned a lay-up coming out of a time-out, Urbutis grabbed a key defensive rebound on Towson's next possession to lock up his double-double. Senior guard Zygis Sestokas (Vilnius, Lithuania) then hit Lester with a crisp pass and Lester drew a foul on David Brewster while hitting the shot in the paint. Lester completed the three-point play with a free throw, building a 66-61 lead with 2:26 left.

Sestokas earlier hit a three-pointer, the 98th in his career, for a 60-57 Hofstra lead and provided tight defense on Thornton's tying shot with two seconds left. With Jenkins on the bench after picking up his fourth foul nearly four minutes into the second half, the Pride surged in front when Lester hit a three-pointer in front of Hofstra's bench for a 50-49 lead with 10:41 left, the Pride's first lead since 2-0.

Lester then forced a Towson timeout after hitting another three from the opposite wing just 2:03 later to put the Pride up 53-51 after Troy Franklin put the Tigers back ahead. Lester added another jumper and a lay-in off a drive, giving him eight points in less than three minutes.

Hofstra fell behind as much as 12 points in the first half before Jenkins initiated the comeback. Jenkins produced nearly half of the Pride's offense, scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting to cut Towson's lead to 35-31 at the break. Urbutis also reached his career high of 10 points in the first half alone, eclipsing his previous best of nine points, which he had accomplished six times.

Towson forged a 10-1 run midway through to build an 18-7 lead with 10:35 remaining. Rocky Coleman hit a three-pointer with a defender in his face and Robert Nwankwo followed a Tigers defensive stop with a two-handed put-back dunk for the 11-point edge.

Hofstra cut the deficit to four following Jenkins' running jumper through the paint. Josh Thornton re-established a double-digit lead for the visitors minutes later, finishing a catch-and-shoot three-pointer off Brian Morris's quick pass to cap an 8-0 run, building a 28-16 lead.

Jenkins scored Hofstra's next seven points, including a lay-in off a loose ball in the paint while Urbutis chipped in six of his 10 points in the final five minutes. The duo accounted for all but five of the Pride's points before halftime.

Hofstra shot 53.8 percent in the second half (14-26) after shooting only 29.6 percent in the opening stanza (8-27). The Pride also outrebounded the Tigers 41-27 on the afternoon.

The Pride will be back in action Tuesday when it hosts CAA-rival Old Dominion in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.