St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands – Junior guard Brian Bernardi scored 19 of his 24 points in the first half as the Hofstra Men's Basketball team defeated Florida State, 82-77, in action at the Sports and Fitness Center on the campus of the University of the Virgin Islands. 

Hofstra, which improves to 3-0 this season, moves on to face either DePaul or South Carolina on Sunday (November 22) at 10 p.m. local time (9 p.m. EST). Florida State suffered its first loss of the season and falls to 2-1. That game will be televised nationally by the CBS Sports Network. 

Senior guard Juan'ya Green added 17 points, seven assists, three steals and three rebounds for Hofstra, which also got 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists from graduate forward Denton Koon. Senior forward Ameen Tanksley tallied 14 points and four rebounds for Hofstra. 

The Pride led the majority of the first half, taking as much as a nine-point advantage following a three-pointer from Bernardi with 3:05 left before intermission. The Seminoles closed the gap to four in the final minute before a layup from sophomore center Rokas Gustys with three seconds left before the break pushed the lead back to six, 41-35. 

After falling behind by nine in the early going of the second stanza, Florida State rallied back to make it a one-point game, 53-52, with 11:49 to play. 

As they continued to do throughout the contest, Hofstra would hold off Florida State and the Pride used a 12-4 run to open up a 72-63 lead with 5:19 left following two free throws from Koon. The Pride's free throw shooting was tremendous during the run as Hofstra went 8-8 from charity stripe to push the advantage to nine. 

The lead would be five, 77-72, with 1:35 left after a free throw from Green before Florida State closed to within two after Malik Beasley drained a three-pointer. 

Hofstra was not to be denied, though, as the Pride hit five of its six free throws in the final 24 seconds to hold off any hopes of a Florida State rally. 

Gustys led all players in the game with 11 rebounds and also added eight points. 

Beasley posted a game-high 25 points for Florida State. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is 3-0 for the first time since starting the 2004-05 season with nine straight wins. 
- The Pride earn its first-ever win over Florida State and are now 1-3 against the Seminoles. The teams last met during the 1974-75 season. 
- With his six three-pointers in the game today, Bernardi now has 14 through three games this season.