Hempstead, NY - Tareq Coburn scored 21 of his game-high 26 points in the first half and his final two points sealed the Hofstra win as the Pride held off Towson, 74-69, Sunday afternoon in a Colonial Athletic Association game at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. Hofstra, which led by as many as 14 points, saw its lead whittled down to one in the final two minutes.

Hofstra, which won for the third consecutive outing, moved to 9-6 overall and 5-3 in CAA play. Towson suffered its second straight loss and slipped to 3-7 overall and 2-3 in league action.

Coburn matched his career-high with seven three-pointers in the game and shot 7-9 from long-range and 8-12 overall. He was also 3-3 from the charity stripe with his final two free throws locking up the win for the Pride. Jalen Ray scored 16 points and added seven assists. Kvonn Cramer chipped in 11 points while Isaac Kante had 10 points and seven rebounds. Caleb Burgess had six assists for the Pride.  

Hofstra led 42-34 at the half behind the scoring of Coburn (21 points) and Ray (13 points). Coburn provided the early offense for the Pride, scoring Hofstra's first 10 points and 16 of the first 18. He had a four-point play that tied the score at 7 with 2:50 elapsed in the first half and his third three-pointer of the half made it 10-9 in favor of the Pride with 15:58 to play. After Kante dropped in a layup, Coburn added two more three-pointers to put the Pride up 18-11 with 13:29 remaining. Ray would catch the scoring bug as he had a driving layup and a long three-pointer to put Hofstra ahead by 10, 23-13 with 11:53 on the clock. Following back-to-back baskets for Towson, Ray connected on another three-pointer to push the Hofstra lead back to nine, 26-17. The Pride took their largest lead of the half, 11 (39-28), with 3:39 to play following Coburn's sixth three-pointer of the game. The Tigers would score six unanswered points to get within five, 39-34, with 1:38 to go. However, Ray stopped the run with a three and Towson missed on a last shot opportunity to keep the Pride's lead at eight at the half.

Coburn and Ray kept up the scoring to start the second half, combining for six of the Pride's first eight points. The Pride built a 14-point lead, 55-41, with 16:44 to play following a three-pointer from Cramer and a layup from Vukasin Masic. The Tigers would make it a six-point game, 57-51, with 12:11 to go following a 7-0 run capped off by a Demetrius Mims' jumper in the lane. Stafford Trueheart stopped the Tigers run with a layup for a 59-51 lead and after Towson cut its deficit to five, Masic answered with a three-pointer to make it 62-54 with 7:47 remaining. The Tigers kept clawing away and made it a four-point game, 62-58, after two free throws from Zane Martin with 6:21 to play. Martin's three-point play with 3:20 on the clock brought Towson to within one, 66-65. Kante responded for the Pride with a jump hook to make it 68-65 and then fed Cramer for another basket for push Hofstra's lead to five with 2:12 to go. Four consecutive free throws from Towson made it a one-point game once again, 70-69, with 1:20 to play. Towson was called for an offensive foul with 24 seconds to play and Cramer hit both ends of the one-and-one to give the Pride a 72-69 advantage. The Tigers turned the ball over again on their next possession and Coburn would seal the win for the Pride at the line with two free throws with 4.2 seconds on the clock.

Martin led the Tigers with 17 points and seven assists. Nicolas Timberlake finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Hofstra is back in action next weekend, January 30-31, at UNCW. Game times are set for 1 p.m. each day.

NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 46-27 versus Towson and has won seven of the last eight meetings.
-The Pride is 6-2 at home in 2020-21 and 40-11 at the Mack Sports Complex over the past three-plus seasons.
-Ray moved into a tie for 28th place on the Hofstra career-scoring list with 1,159 points, matching Ted Jackson (1958-61).
-Hofstra was 8-8 from the line with the eight attempts a season-low.
-Coburn also matched a career-high with three blocked shots.