Charleston, SC - Aaron Estrada matched his career-high with 30 points and scored 23 in the second half, including Hofstra's final 14 points, as the Pride held off the College of Charleston, 76-73, in a Colonial Athletic Association battle at TD Arena Thursday night. The Pride survived a second half rally from the Cougars before outscoring the Cougars, 9-5, in the final 3:08.

Hofstra won for the fourth consecutive time and improved to 13-7 overall and 5-2 in CAA action. Charleston slipped to 10-9 overall and 2-5 in league play.

Estrada tied his career-best in points, set against Delaware on January 15, and added five rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. He was joined in double-figures by Darlinstone Dubar, who had 16 points, 12 of them coming in the first half. Dubar added four rebounds and three blocks. Omar Silverio had nine first half points for the Pride. Abayomi Iyiola had a game-high 12 rebounds for Hofstra.

Hofstra led 39-33 at the half and never trailed. The Pride led by as many as 15 points on three occasions, the last time at 28-13 with 7:54 to play following a layup from Zach Cooks. The Cougars responded with an 18-4 run that made it a one-point game (32-31) with 2:45 to play. The Pride would close the half on a 7-1 spurt behind five consecutive points from Silverio to go into the locker room ahead by six.

The Cougars started the second half with a pair of free throws to get within four, but Estrada drained a three-pointer to extend the Hofstra lead to seven with just 29 seconds gone in the half. Caleb Burgess would later hit a three-pointer that gave the Pride a double-digit advantage, 49-39, with 16:56 to go.

However, Charleston had another run in them, this one a 13-2 spurt that gave the Cougars their first lead of the game, 52-51, with 11:35 to play following a fast break dunk from John Meeks. The Pride tied the score at 52 on a Dubar free throw, and after the Cougars went back up by four, Hofstra answered with a basket from Estrada and a three-point play from Cooks to go back up by one, 57-56, with 8:23 to play. The teams would trade the lead six times over the next five minutes with the Pride taking the lead for good, 70-68, on a three-pointer from Estrada with 3:08 to play. The junior guard would score on the Pride's next possession to make it a four-point edge with 2:14 to play.

Charleston would pull within one, 74-73, with 1:26 to go on Raekwon Horton's three-pointer. After two empty possession by the Pride and one from Charleston, the Cougars got the ball back with 13 seconds remaining and called a timeout. The ball was inbounded to Meeks and he drew a foul with eight ticks on the clock but missed both free throws. The Pride got the rebound, and Estrada was fouled. He hit both ends of the one-and-one to make it a three-point game. Charleston missed a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Pride held on for the win.

Brenden Tucker scored 17 points to lead Charleston, while Nick Farrar added 15 points. Horton scored 12 points and Dimitriius Underwood chipped in with 10 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

Hofstra returns to action Saturday night when it takes on league-leading UNCW. Tip-off at Trask Coliseum is 7 p.m.

Notes:
-Hofstra is 8-7 against Charleston.
-Jalen Ray tied Desure Buie for the all-time games played mark at Hofstra with 141.
-Ray also moved into a second-place tie with Justin Wright-Foreman on Hofstra's career three-point list with 277.
-The Pride improved to 19-4 in its last 23 Thursday games dating back to February 1, 2018.