Charleston, SC – Freshman Eli Pemberton had 21 points, five assists and four rebounds and sophomore Justin Wright-Foreman added 20 points and four rebounds but it wasn't enough as a late rally fell short and the Hofstra Men's Basketball team dropped a 77-71 decision to Charleston on Saturday evening. 

Junior Ty Greer was also in double figures for Hofstra as he came off the bench to score 13 points, including three three-pointers. Charleston got a game-high 31 points from Joe Chealey.

The loss was Hofstra's third straight and drops the Pride's record to 9-8 overall and 1-3 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Charleston improved to 13-4 and 4-0 in CAA action. 

Hofstra took an early 11-6 lead in the game as a three-pointer from Wright-Foreman with 14:26 left in the opening stanza pushed it to a five-point lead for the Pride. The Cougars responded with 10 straight points to lead 16-11 as Chealey had seven of the Charleston points during the run. 

Hofstra would answer back and four points from Pemberton and a basket from Greer put the Pride back in front at 17-16 with just over 10 minutes left before intermission. 

The rest of the half would be a back and forth affair until Charleston broke open a tight game with a 9-0 scoring run to make it 41-31 with 1:28 to play. Hofstra would close the gap to seven at the break as Greer beat the first half buzzer with one of the Pride's six first half three-pointers. 

Leading 51-45 early in the second half, Charleston would expand the lead to 13 as they scored seven straight, including a three-pointer from Grant Riller at the 13:01 mark to make it 58-45 in favor of the Cougars. Greer would end another Charleston run with a long-range shot as his three-pointer from the corner brought the deficit back to 10 heading into the under-12 media timeout. 

Greer's three-pointer would get Hofstra started on a 10-1 run that would close the gap to four, 59-55, with 9:26 left in regulation following a bucket from junior Rokas Gustys. The Pride had five different scorers during the run to battle back. 

Hofstra would fall behind by nine, 66-57, after two free throws from Chealey before a pair of free throws from Wright-Foreman and a layup from junior Hunter Sabety made it 66-61 with just over six minutes left in regulation. 

A jumper from Pemberton would close the gap to just three, 66-63, at the 5:34 mark, the closest the gap had been since the first half, but Charleston gave themselves some much needed breathing room with two straight Riller baskets to make it 70-63. 

The Pride was not done, though, as with the score 75-71 Hofstra would gain possession but missed a layup on its next possession and Riller put the game away with two free throws in the final minute. 

Gustys led Hofstra with eight rebounds. Riller posted 17 points for Charleston. 

Hofstra returns to action next week when it returns south for a pair of games. The Pride will face Elon on Thursday before closing the road trip at UNCW on Saturday. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 4-3 all-time against Charleston. 
- The starting lineup used today was the Pride's fourth different this season.
- Wright-Foreman has scored in double figures in seven straight games and has scored 20 or more in three straight contests.