Richmond, VA - Senior Justin Wright-Foreman had 27 points and graduate Jacquil Taylor tallied a career-best 17 rebounds, but the Hofstra Men's Basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to VCU, 69-67, in overtime on Saturday evening at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. 

Hofstra falls to 3-3 with the loss, while VCU improves to 5-1. 

The game would be knotted at 10 following a pair of free throws from Wright-Foreman with 9:28 left in the opening stanza. The Rams would respond, and VCU used a 20-5 run to open up a 30-15 advantage with 2:50 left after a three-pointer from De'Riante Jenkins. After VCU took a 13-point lead into the break, Hofstra closed the gap to six early in the second stanza as the Pride scored eight of the first 11 points to make it 37-31 with 16:35 remaining in regulation. Wright-Foreman was the key during the opening run with six points for Hofstra. 

The Pride would rally back to take the lead at 44-43 as Hofstra used a 10-0 run including five straight from junior Eli Pemberton to lead 44-43 with 9:54 to play in the second half. Pemberton would star for the Pride in the second 20 minutes as he drained a three-pointer to put the Pride back in front at 47-46 and a layup from sophomore Jalen Ray gave Hofstra its largest lead of the half to that point at 49-46 with just over eight minutes left in regulation. A thrilling second half wouldn't be enough to decide a winner as each team scored once in the final two minutes of regulation to send the contest to overtime after a back and forth final few minutes of the second stanza. 

Hofstra would score four straight early in overtime to turn a small deficit into a 66-63 lead with 2:21 left on the clock as Wright-Foreman hit two straight buckets for the Pride. VCU answered and would tie the score at 67 on a layup from Issac Vann. The game-winning bucket would come from Marcus Evans as he scored with 28 seconds left to account for the margin of victory. Hofstra had a couple chances late but were unable even the score. 

Pemberton finished with 17 points for the Pride, while Ray had 14 points and five rebounds. Wright-Foreman added five rebounds and four assists in the contest, while senior Desure Buie added four assists and four rebounds. Jenkins led VCU with 19 points, while Vann added 16 and Evans had 13 points and five assists. 

Hofstra returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Siena at 7 p.m. For ticket information visit HofstraTickets.com, call (516) HOF-TIXX or stop by the Hofstra Athletics Box Office in the lobby of the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. 

NOTES 
- Hofstra is now 5-16 all-time against VCU. It was the first meeting between the teams since the 2011-12 season when VCU was a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.  
- Taylor's previous career-high in rebounds was 10 on a pair of occasions, most recently versus Mount St. Mary's on November 9. 
- The game was Hofstra's first overtime contest since an 87-81 win over James Madison on January 5, 2018.