Wilmington, NC – Junior forward Ameen Tanksley and junior guard Juan'ya Green each had 15 points to lead the Hofstra Men's Basketball team to a comeback victory, 68-56, over UNCW on Saturday afternoon at Trask Coliseum. 

Hofstra trailed by 11 points, 36-25, at the break before rallying in the second half for the important victory in the conference lid-lifter. 

The win, Hofstra's third straight, improves the Pride's record to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The ten wins equals Hofstra's total from the entire 2013-14 campaign. UNCW falls to 5-7 and 0-1 in league play with the loss. The Pride won its fifth straight game against the Seahawks.  

After Hofstra took an early 2-0 on free throws from Green and Tanksley, the Seahawks answered with a 9-0 scoring run that culminated with a three-pointer from Craig Ponder at the 15:50 mark of the opening stanza. 

A jumper from C.J. Gettys at the 10:10 mark would push UNCW's lead to 20-8 before Hofstra closed the gap to 21-19 with an 11-1 run. Sophomore guard Jamall Robinson started the Pride run and graduate guard Dion Nesmith added five points during the spurt to make it a two-point game with 5:16 remaining before intermission. 

With the half winding down, the Seahawks scored five consecutive points to take a 13-point advantage (36-23) with 37 ticks left on the clock before freshman forward Rokas Gustys ended the first half scoring with an emphatic put-back dunk to make it an 11-point contest at the break. 

The momentum looked to be on Hofstra's side to start the second half as a jumper from junior forward Malik Nichols was followed by a three-pointer from sophomore guard Brian Bernardi to close the Pride to within 36-30 less than two minutes into the second stanza. 

UNCW would still hold a six-point advantage at 40-34 at the 16:38 mark before Hofstra scored nine of the next 11 points in the contest to take a 43-42 lead following a three-pointer from Tanksley with 12:59 showing on the clock. It total the run would be 18-6 in favor of the Pride to start the second half as Hofstra regained the lead for the first time since it was 2-0. 

Trailing by one, the Seahawks rallied with six straight points to push the home squad's lead back to five, 48-43, with just under 10 minutes to play in regulation.

The Pride would continue to fight down the stretch and battled back once again to knot the score, this time at 53, courtesy of a three-pointer from the top of the key from Green with 5:59 left in the second half. 

Hofstra would open up its largest lead of the game, 59-53, after a thunderous dunk from senior forward Moussa Kone, along with some free throws, as the run reached 10-0 in total with just over four minutes to play. 

After a three-pointer from UNCW cut the deficit to three, 59-56, for the Seahawks, Green hit three straight free throws to give the Pride some breathing room at 62-56 with under two minutes left in regulation.

Hofstra would put the game out of reach with additional free throws in the closing minute-plus as the Pride captured its CAA road opener for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign. 

Nesmith finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for Hofstra, which got a game-high 10 rebounds from Gustys. Green added six rebounds for the Pride, while Kone had eight points and six rebounds. 

The Seahawks were led by 13 points from Ponder and 11 from Gettys, who also added a team-best nine rebounds. 

Today started a busy stretch for Hofstra as the Pride will play four games in eight days. The tough start to CAA play continues on Monday when Hofstra hosts defending conference champion Delaware at 7 p.m. For ticket information visit the brand-new HofstraTickets.com or call the Hofstra Athletics Box Office at (516) HOF-TIXX.