Elon, NC - Aaron Estrada poured in a career-high 40 points as the Hofstra men's basketball team pulled away in the second half for a 82-65 victory over Elon on Thursday evening at the Schar Center. Remarkably, Hofstra has now won 19 consecutive road Thursday games and improved to 26-6 in its last 32 Thursday games overall over the past five seasons. 

It was a magical night for Estrada, who broke his previous career-high of 35 points against James Madison on February 5, 2022. Estrada was 16-25 from the field and 8-15 from three-point range in the game, while adding four rebounds and three assists. The last 40-point game by a member of the Pride was also at Elon when Omar Silverio scored 40 and drained a school-record 11 three-pointers on February 15, 2022. 

The win, Hofstra's second straight and sixth in its last seven games, improves the Pride's record to 14-8 overall and 7-2 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Elon falls to 2-19 and 0-8 in the league. 

In addition, Hofstra has now won eight of its last nine and 11 of its last 13 road games in conference play. 

Hofstra scored the first six points of the game and later in the half used a 17-5 run to take a 28-17 lead with 7:46 left before intermission following a dunk from Warren Williams. Elon battled back, though, and the Phoenix scored the final 10 points of the half over the final 3:18 to lead by two, 35-33, at the break. 

Elon pushed the lead to four early in the second stanza before back-to-back Estrada three-pointers put the Pride back in front at 39-37 with 18:44 showing on the clock. The Pride would trail, 44-43, with just over 15 minutes left in regulation before putting together a game-changing run. After an Estrada basket and an Elon free throw made it 45-45, Hofstra took over and scored 10 consecutive points to lead 55-45 with 12:21 left after a three-pointer from Tyler Thomas. 

The Phoenix rallied to close to within four, 63-59 with 7:19 on the clock, but Hofstra had an answer each time. The Pride added an 11-0 run that made it a 74-59 lead with 4:22 left as Darlinstone Dubar drained a three-pointer. That would be all the breathing room the Pride would need as they cruised down the stretch. Estrada reached the 40-point plateau with 1:33 left on a three-pointer. 

Thomas added 23 points for Hofstra, including five three-pointers. Jaquan Carlos dished out nine assists in the contest for the Pride. 

Sean Halloran had 24 points for Elon, while Torrance Watson tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds. 

Hofstra continues its road trip on Saturday when it travels to #18 Charleston for a 4 p.m. contest. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is 12-5 all-time against Elon and the Pride has won seven of the last nine games in the series with the Phoenix. 
- Hofstra is now 93-19 over the past nine seasons when holding its opponent under 70 points. The Pride is 7-2 this season in that scenario and 17-4 under Speedy Claxton. 
- With his 40 points in the game, Estrada is now just six points shy of 1,000 for his Hofstra career. He would become the 40th member of the 1,000-Point Club at Hofstra. 
- With Estrada (eight) and Thomas (five) each having five or more three-pointers, it marked the first time since February 13, 2021 that two Pride players each had five or more three-pointers in the same game. Jalen Ray and Tareq Coburn each tallied five against James Madison. 
- The 40-point game was the 18th in program history. 
- Hofstra is 10-1 over the past two seasons when two players score 20 or more points in the same game and 28-6 since the start of the 2017-18 season in that scenario.