North Little Rock, AR - Hofstra led for nearly the entire night as the Pride took down No. 24 Arkansas 89-81, from the Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Hofstra moves to 7-5 with tonight's win, and Arkansas drops to 9-2 following the neutral-site loss to the Pride.

Three Hofstra players finished in double-figures for scoring, with Jalen Ray and Aaron Estrada leading the way with 22 points each. Estrada pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out eight assists for the Pride, and Abayomi Iyiola recorded his second consecutive double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Darlinstone Dubar led the Hofstra defense with a personal-best five steals.

Down by three early, Ray scored the next five Hofstra points to put them ahead by two with 12:31 to go in the first half. Arkansas briefly tied the game, but a Caleb Burgess three and a Kvonn Cramer lay-up put Hofstra ahead by five, and it was the last time the score would not be in Hofstra's favor for the rest of the night. Iyiola scored nine of his 14 points inside the final eight minutes as the Pride led the Razorbacks, 40-32, at halftime.

Hofstra maintained its lead over Arkansas at the start of the second half, and five straight points from a Ray three-pointer and an Estrada lay-up put the Pride ahead by 10. Arkansas battled back and brought the score to within four with 12:04 remaining thanks to eight points by leading-scorer Jd Notae. A pair of Omar Silverio free throws kick-started a run of 10 unanswered points, putting the Pride ahead by 14 with under 10 minutes on the clock.

The Razorbacks answered Hofstra's lengthy run with a run of their own. Notae sunk a three-pointer at 8:10 to start of 11 consecutive points, putting the score at 64-61 Hofstra with 6:19 to go. Arkansas pulled to within two with less than five minutes to go, but Estrada finished off a driving lay-up at 4:36, keying a lengthy 13-2 run to give the visitors a 13-point lead with 1:10 remaining.

Arkansas scored four three-pointers inside the final minute, but Hofstra would sink six free throw opportunities and Estrada scored on a lay-up gave Hofstra a nine-point lead with 32 seconds left. Estrada scored his final two points of the night with a pair of free throws, and Hofstra claimed the big win over the Razorbacks.

Notae finished with 20 points to lead Arkansas in scoring, and Chris Lykes put 19 points on the board. Jaylin Williams pulled down a team-leading eight rebounds.

Hofstra's road swing picks back up on December 22 in New Jersey against Monmouth. Opening tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 1-2 all-time against Arkansas.
-This was Hofstra's first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 23 Richmond on December 20, 2020.
-Jalen Ray finished with 22 points. He now has 1,480 points for his career. He ranks 12th all-time in scoring at Hofstra, and is now 197 points from 11th place (Norman Richardson; 1,677 points from 1997-01).
-Hofstra shot 47.7% (31-65) from the floor, and shot 31.8% (7-22) from behind the three-point line.
-The Pride forced Arkansas into committing 15 turnovers while only turning the ball over nine times.