Hempstead, N.Y. - Senior guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, N.Y) had a personal 7-0 run over a span of three possessions to break a 52-52 tie in the final five minutes and lead the Hofstra Men's Basketball team to a 66-57 win over UNC Wilmington on Wednesday evening at the Mack Sports Complex.
Jenkins finished with 22 points, junior guard Mike Moore (New Haven, Conn.) added 18 and sophomore forward David Imes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Pride, which improves to 12-6 overall and 6-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, maintaining a share of first place with VCU. Hofstra also extended its win streak to six games in the series with UNC Wilmington, which falls to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in conference with the loss.
UNC Wilmington took a 50-45 lead on a three-pointer from senior guard Chad Tomko, but Hofstra pulled even at 52-52 on an Imes 18-foot jumper before Jenkins took over. He hit an NBA-length three-pointer with 4:32 left to give Hofstra a 55-52 lead, then added a long two-pointer on the next possession, before grabbing a defensive rebound and hitting two foul shots to put the Pride ahead 59-52 at the 3:14 mark.
Tomko stopped the run with an 18-footer, but Moore followed with a three-point play off an Imes feed at the 2:28 mark, and Jenkins went coast-to-coast for a pretty spinning bank shot to push the lead to 10 at 64-54 with just over two minutes to play, and Hofstra was able to hold on from there.
UNC Wilmington led 4-0 early, but Jenkins got Hofstra going with two baskets and two assists to key a 16-7 run that put the Pride ahead 16-11. Imes added three dunks in the opening eight minutes to help give the Pride early control of the game.
Hofstra led by as many as 13 in the opening half (27-14), but UNC Wilmington clawed back within 29-25 with 2:35 left on a Keith Rendelman lay-up. Moore and senior guard Brad Kelleher (Victoria, Australia), though, answered with three-pointers to close out the half and give the Pride a 35-27 lead at the break.
Jenkins then started off the second half with a jumper, and Moore followed with a steal and breakaway dunk to make the score 39-27 and force UNC Wilmington into a quick timeout at the 19:02 mark. The Seahawks then responded and pulled to within one point at 42-41 on a Tomko three-pointer.
Imes scored the next three points to push the lead to four, but UNC Wilmington went on a 9-0 run, capped off by another Tomko three-pointer, to take a 50-45 lead with 9:17 left. Freshman guard Shemiye McLendon (Vero Beach, Fla.) stepped up with a big three-pointer off a Jenkins feed to stop the run at the 8:55 mark and start a Hofstra 14-2 Pride spurt that was capped off by the seven straight points from Jenkins.
Jenkins was 6-11 overall for the game, including 4-6 in the second half, and added six assists. Moore was 7-11 from the floor, but did miss a foul shot in the closing minutes, ending a streak of 26 straight makes and dropping him to 30-31 from the line in conference games this season. Tomko finished with 18 points for UNC Wilmington, while Rendelman had 17.
Hofstra will next be in action when it travels to face William and Mary on Saturday afternoon, before a quick turnaround for a Monday night home game with James Madison.
