When Eli Pemberton was a high school senior making an official recruiting visit to Hofstra, his host Desure Buie was in charge of finding ways to make a good impression. Buie could have shown him the sights around campus or taken him out for a nice meal. Instead, he had another idea.

            "He said, `Let's go get some shots up,' " Pemberton, now a Hofstra senior said recently. Yes, he added, the fancy place Buie brought him was the Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex—the Pride's home arena. "We were in here about midnight," Pemberton recalled before practice on the court. "Instead of doing anything big, we came in and got shots up."

This Saturday afternoon, both players will say an official goodbye to the arena that has meant so much to them. The 4 p.m. game against James Madison will be Senior Day and the final regular season game at the Mack for two players who helped make the place feel so special for the Hofstra community.

            "It's home," said Buie, who started college a year before Pemberton but redshirted his sophomore year after a serious injury and is finishing his career alongside his longtime friend. "I'm so comfortable here. I'm happy I decided to come here. I'm happy to be part of this Pride."

            The Mack itself turned 20 this season, although people who go there attest it sure doesn't look it. The lighting is still bright, the walls are pristine and if anything, it is more high tech than it was two decades ago. Last season, two huge LED video screens were installed to replace the overhead scoreboard. A new sound system was added, too.

            "It's a fabulous place," said coach Joe Mihalich, who saw the Mack in its infancy as a guest of then-head coach Jay Wright, "because he and I have been friends forever. I came and watched a practice once.

            "It's a great place to watch a game," Mihalich said. "I'd like to get some more people in these seats. Listen, we're very appreciative of the people who do come, but if more people came and improved the atmosphere even more, it would be an even better place."

            The arena has its own stories to tell, its own legacy. For Pemberton and Buie—young men who knew each other from the summer basketball circuit when both were teenagers—that includes the impressive nationally televised victory over Charleston on Feb. 13, which affirmed the Pride's place at the top of the CAA standings.

            Neither player ever will forget the amazing finish during a game last season, when their NBA-bound teammate Justin Wright-Foreman raced upcourt and fired a buzzer-beating three-pointer to top Northeastern and continue a nation's-best winning streak.

            Going back even further, there were the exciting home games in 2000-01 that helped Hofstra get to the NCAA Tournament. Also, the Pride hosted and beat Nebraska in the 2006 National Invitation Tournament. Hofstra's wrestling and women's basketball teams also call The Mack their home.

            The facility became the center of the country's attention in 2008, 2012 and 2016 when it hosted Presidential debates, between Barack Obama and John McCain, Obama and Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. NBC late night talk show host and comedian Jimmy Fallon performed there as have a multitude of comedians and musical artists.

            But as far as Pemberton and Buie are concerned, it is a classic basketball classroom and stage.

            "In this building, there are so many memories, so many good times," Pemberton said. "Even the times of learning, the times of `maturity building' were good. There were a lot of practices, a lot of hard ones, too."