New York, NY – Junior guard Brian Bernardi had 23 points and senior guard Juan'ya Green added 17 points and six assists to lead the Hofstra Men's Basketball team to an 86-80 win over Appalachian State on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. 

Hofstra, which improved to 6-2 with its third straight win, also got a strong game out of sophomore center Rokas Gustys who contributed 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Appalachian State fell to 2-6 with the loss. 

The win was Hofstra's first at Madison Square Garden since a 63-51 victory over St. John's on December 29, 2006. 

Hofstra went into the break trailing by two, 38-36, as Appalachian State led the majority of the first 20 minutes of the contest. A three-pointer from Chris Burgess at the 9:43 mark gave the Mountaineers their largest lead of the stanza at 26-17 before Hofstra began to make a run. The Pride would score the game's next eight points, including four points each from senior forwards Ameen Tanksley and Malik Nichols, to make it 26-25, with 5:58 showing on the clock. A Tanksley layup with 32 seconds left in the first half would close the first half scoring and make it a two-point game at the break. 

A three-pointer from Bernardi just over a minute into the second half would give Hofstra a 39-38 lead, the Pride's first advantage in the contest since it was 5-2. 

The game would be a back-and-forth affair for nearly half of the second half and the score would be knotted at 55 before Hofstra scored seven straight, including five from Bernardi, to take a 62-55 lead with 10:54 to play. 

Appalachian State closed to within two, 74-72, with 4:48 left in the game but a clutch three-pointer from Green pushed the lead back to five with three minutes remaining. 

Hofstra would push the lead to as many as nine in the final minute following two free throws from Tanksley before settling for the six-point win.  

Tanksley finished with 18 points and five rebounds for Hofstra.

Frank Eaves scored a game-high 38 points for Appalachian State, while Burgess and Ronshad Shabazz each added 10. 

Hofstra is back in action on Wednesday when it travels to Siena for a 7 p.m. contest. 

NOTES
- Hofstra improved to 2-0 all-time against Appalachian State with both meetings occurring in the last two seasons. Coach Mihalich is now 5-0 all-time against the Mountaineers. 
- Hofstra improved to 10-9 all-time at Madison Square Garden and has now won nine of its last 15 games in the World's Most Famous Arena. 
- The double-double for Gustys was his third of the season and fourth of his career.