Boston, MA – Junior Justin Wright-Foreman had 27 points, six rebounds and three steals, senior Rokas Gustys tallied 15 points and 13 rebounds and sophomore Eli Pemberton chipped in with 13 points to lead the Hofstra Men's Basketball team to a 71-70 victory over Northeastern on Tuesday evening at Matthews Arena.
The win was the Pride's first Colonial Athletic Association victory of the season and improves Hofstra's record to 8-6 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Northeastern falls to 8-6 and 1-1 in the league.
The Pride fell into an early 23-11 hole as the Huskies used a 13-3 run to push the advantage to 12 points with 11:17 left in the opening stanza. Hofstra immediately responded and scored 11 straight points, including seven points from Wright-Foreman, to make it 23-22 with 7:22 left. A three-point play from Wright-Foreman with 47 ticks left on the first half clock would allow the Pride to take a 41-40 lead into the intermission.
Northeastern grabbed the momentum out of the locker room as they scored the first six points of the second half to lead 46-41 following a layup from Shawn Occeus. The lead would still be four for the Huskies at 55-51 with just over 10 minutes left in regulation before Hofstra scored seven straight, including a huge three-pointer from freshman Matija Radovic, to make it 58-55 in favor of the Pride with 8:04 left.
Hofstra would need one final rally as Northeastern led 63-60 with less than six minutes left but scored six straight points, including another big basket from Radovic, to lead 66-63 with four minutes left. The Pride would get points from Wright-Foreman, Gustys and Pemberton in the final two minutes to allow Hofstra to capture the important road victory. Radovic finished with five points and four rebounds, while Pemberton added five rebounds and Wright-Foreman tallied three steals. Occeus led Northeastern with 20 points, while Jeremy Miller had 12 points and five rebounds.
Hofstra returns to action on Friday when it hosts James Madison at 7 p.m. For tickets point your browser to HofstraTickets.com, call (516) HOF-TIXX or visit the Hofstra Athletics Box Office in the lobby of the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
NOTES
- Hofstra is now 22-20 all-time against Northeastern and has won five straight in the series.
- Gustys now has 990 career points and Wright-Foreman now has 965 career points. They are looking to become the 35th and 36th member of the 1,000-Point Club at Hofstra.
- Gustys now has 1,078 career rebounds to move into a tie for fourth place all-time in CAA history. He is tied Jamelle Hagins of Delaware (1,078 from 2010-13). He also had his fifth double-double of the season and 40th of his career.
- Wright-Foreman has now scored in double figures in 36 straight games (fifth-longest streak in nation) and reached the 20-point plateau for the 11th time this season and 26th time in his career.
