New Britain, CT – Junior guard
Juan'ya Green had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists to lead five players in double figures as the Hofstra Men's Basketball team captured a dominating 84-56 victory over Central Connecticut State on Wednesday afternoon at Detrick Gymnasium.
Junior forward
Ameen Tanksley added 15 points and a team-best seven rebounds for the Pride.
Hofstra wins its second straight game and improves to 9-4 this season. The Blue Devils fall to 2-11.
The win was the Pride's ninth non-conference victory of the season, the program's most since the 2008-09 squad also won nine non-conference contests.
Hofstra, the nation's top three-point shooting team coming into the contest at 42.5%, drained 10 from long range in the game. It was their seventh game this season with at least 10 three-pointers.
It would be an offensive explosion for Hofstra in the first half as the Pride shot 54% from the field en route to 47 first half points. Hofstra did a ton of damage from beyond the arc as they were an impressive 9-19 from three-point range to help them open up a 22-point halftime lead. Graduate guard
Dion Nesmith, who led the Pride with 11 first half points, had a trio of three-pointers to lead the way for Hofstra in that category.
The game saw Hofstra hold a narrow 5-3 lead early on before the Pride scored 10 of the next 14 points in the contest to lead 15-7 following a layup from sophomore guard
Jamall Robinson with 14:03 left before halftime.
Hofstra would take its first double-digit lead of the game at the 10:30 mark as the Pride scored seven straight points to turn a narrow 18-14 lead into a 25-14 advantage.
That run would catapult Hofstra into a commanding lead as the Pride would continue to pull away from the Blue Devils. After a jumper from Corey Barrett of Central Connecticut State made it 36-22 with 3:41 left before intermission, Hofstra scored 11 straight points to open up its largest lead of the game to that point at 47-22. Sophomore guard
Brian Bernardi had a pair of three-pointers for Hofstra to key the late first half run.
Hofstra would be held without a field goal for the first three-plus minutes of the second stanza until a basket from junior forward
Malik Nichols put the Pride ahead 51-29.
The lead would hover around 20 the majority of the second half with Hofstra pushing the lead to 26 on a pair of occasions with under eight minutes to play in regulation.
Hofstra, which hit the nine first half three-pointers, would not hit their 10th of the game until roughly the five-minute mark when Bernardi hit one for the Pride.
The Pride would take its first 30-point lead of the game at the 5:32 mark on a basket from freshman guard
Eliel Gonzalez and cruised to the conclusion from there as they improved to 9-4 in 2014-15.
KONE finished with 11 points and five rebounds, while Nesmith and Bernardi each chipped in with 11.
Faronte Drakeford scored a team-high 20 points and added eight rebounds for CCSU. Matt Mobley had 16 for the other Blue Devil in double figures.
Hofstra will open Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play on Saturday when the Pride head south to UNCW for a 2 p.m. contest. It will start a busy stretch for the Pride, which will play four games in eight days from January 3 – January 10. Hofstra's first home CAA contest will be on Monday, January 5 when the Pride host defending conference champion Delaware at 7 p.m. For tickets to all home games visit the brand-new HofstraTickets.com or call the Hofstra Athletics Box Office at (516) HOF-TIXX.
