Elmont, NY - Led by the duo of Tyler Thomas (24 points and nine rebounds) and Darlinstone Dubar (23 points and five rebounds), the Hofstra men's basketball team nearly took down St. John's before falling in a narrow 84-79 decision at UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon. The nationally-televised battle on FS1 went down to the wire as it was a one-possession game in the final minute of the contest. 

Dubar went over 1,000 points for his career in the contest. He now has 1,007 (970 at Hofstra) combined at Iowa State and Hofstra. 

The loss sees Hofstra end the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 7-6 record. St. John's improved to 9-4. 

It was a one-possession game for much of the opening half with Hofstra holding a 20-18 advantage with 7:06 left following a basket from Dubar. St. John's was able to retake the lead at 31-25 before Khalil Farmer drained a three-pointer with 3:24 left in the half to close the gap to three. The Red Storm took a four-point lead into the break. 

The second half saw the two teams combine for 95 points and only be separated by one point despite a 27-6 free throw advantage for St. John's. 

St. John's scored the first nine points of the second half to open up a 45-32 lead with 17:39 left in regulation as the Pride was whistled for five fouls in the first 2:21 of the second half. 

The Pride had a run in them and Hofstra went on a 14-4 run to vault back into the contest and close to within 49-46 with 13:26 showing on the clock. The Red Storm was able to push the lead back to double digits for a moment with about 10 minutes to play but once again Hofstra was able to battle back. The Pride scored 18 of the next 28 points after St. John's opened up a 61-50 lead to make it 71-68 with 4:09 remaining following a three-pointer from Thomas. 

A layup from Jaquan Carlos with 50 seconds to play made it a 77-74 game, but Daniss Jenkins came up with a huge basket on St. John's next possession to push the lead back to five. The Pride would close the gap to three once again in the closing seconds before the Red Storm tallied two late free throws for the final score. 

Carlos finished with 10 points and four assists for the Pride, while KiJan Robinson added eight points and German Plotnikov tallied seven points and three assists. 


Jenkins had 21 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists for St. John's. Jordan Dingle added 15 points and five rebounds. 

Today marked the final non-conference game of the season for Hofstra. The Pride will open Coastal Athletic Association play on Thursday when it hosts Charleston in a battle of two of the league's heavyweights. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. For ticket information visit HofstraTickets.com. The game will also air on MSG2, FloHoops, WRHU (HAWC), and FloHoops Free Live-To-Social. 

NOTES
- Today marked the 28th all-time meeting between Hofstra and St. John's, with the Red Storm having won 23 of the meetings. The Pride had won four of the last five meetings prior to today, which was the first meeting between the teams since December 20, 2009. 
- Today was Hofstra's first-ever game at UBS Arena. The Pride has now played 37 games combined at the four professional arenas in the area (Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, Barclays Center, and UBS Arena). 
- The loss ended an eight-game win streak for Hofstra against teams from the state of New York. The Pride is now 30-13 over the last 10 seasons against teams from New York.