Elon, NC – Senior Deron Powers had 21 points, eight assists and four rebounds, but a second half rally fell short as the Hofstra Men's Basketball team dropped a 96-80 decision to Elon on Thursday evening at Alumni Gym. 

The loss was Hofstra's fourth straight and drops the Pride's record to 9-9 overall and 1-4 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Elon improved to 10-8 and 2-3 in league play. 

Senior Brian Bernardi added 13 points and now has 1,026 for his Hofstra career to move into 32nd place all-time. 

Hofstra would face a significant 16-point deficit at the break as Elon shot 56% to lead 50-34 at the half. The game was knotted at nine before the Phoenix used a 15-2 run to make it 24-11 at the 12:50 mark as Steven Santa Ana tallied eight of the points during the run to help Elon.

Down 31-18, Hofstra closed the gap to eight, 33-25, with 6:07 showing on the clock as freshman Eli Pemberton had a three-pointer and the Pride also got baskets from juniors Ty Greer and Hunter Sabety. 

Two free throws from Dimitri Thompson seconds later would put the lead back at double digits for Elon and the Phoenix would keep Hofstra at bay the remainder of the opening stanza. 

Elon would quickly push the lead to 22 points just two minutes into the second stanza on a three-pointer from Santa Ana. 

The lead would stay above 20 until the Pride used a 7-0 run to make it 71-52 with 12:42 remaining in regulation. Pemberton had a three-pointer and another basket during the quick spurt. 

Trailing by 23, 81-58, Hofstra would use an 11-0 run to close to within 81-69 with 7:41 showing on the clock. Sophomore Justin Wright-Foreman keyed the run as he had seven of the 11 points. 

Hofstra would continue to battle back and show an incredible amount of fight in the second half. With the deficit still at 14, 85-71, with 6:26 left in the second half the Pride would use another 7-0 run as the gap became just seven, 85-78, with 4:35 to play. It marked the closest the game had been since the score was 18-11 Elon with over 14 minutes left in the first half. 

The Pride would be unable to complete the second half rally as Elon went on to earn the home victory over Hofstra. 

Hofstra also got double figure scoring games from Pemberton (16) and Wright-Foreman (14). Pemberton added a team-high nine rebounds. 

Santa Ana led all scorers with 29 points, while Tyler Seibring added 22 for Elon and Dainan Swoope chipped in with 18. 

Hofstra returns to action on Saturday when it heads to Wilmington to face UNCW at 2 p.m. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 5-1 all-time against Elon in a series that began in 2009. 
- It was Wright-Foreman's eighth straight game in double figures.