Hempstead, NY - Aaron Estrada had 18 points, six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals for Hofstra, but the Pride saw its dream season come to a close as the Hofstra men's basketball team dropped a 79-65 decision to Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. 

Darlinstone Dubar and Tyler Thomas were both in double figures for the Pride as Dubar had 16 points and seven rebounds and Thomas tallied 16 points and five rebounds. 

Hofstra ends its season with a 25-10 record, while Cincinnati improves to 23-12 and moves on to the quarterfinals of the NIT. 

A basket from Thomas just over two minutes into the contest gave the Pride an early 5-4 lead before Cincinnati scored eight straight points to earn a 12-5 advantage with 15:23 left in the opening stanza. The Bearcats would push the lead to nine on a pair of occasions before the Pride gradually chipped away and eventually knotted the score at 31 with 4:05 left in the opening stanza following back-to-back three-pointers from Thomas and Dubar. Cincinnati quickly expanded the lead to eight before Dubar and Thomas once again had baskets, this time in the final minute of the half, to make it a three-point game at the break. 

The Pride opened the second half with the first points as Nelson Boachie-Yiadom scored off an assist from Estrada and the Pride would have a chance to take a lead after a stop on defense. Hofstra would be unable to score on their next possession and the Bearcats scored on their next two to make it a 44-39 lead with 18:30 left. After Hofstra closed the gap to three, Cincinnati pushed the lead back to eight with five straight and made the score 49-41 with 15:33 left in regulation. The lead would hover around six with an Estrada basket making it 57-51 with 10:23 to play, but Cincinnati began to pull away at that point. The Bearcats used a 16-3 run over the next five-plus minutes to take a commanding 73-54 lead with 5:16 on the clock. The visitors would end up capturing the game and advance to the next round of the NIT. 

Boachie-Yiadom had four points and five rebounds for the Pride, which also got four points from German Plotnikov. 

Landers Nolley II led Cincinnati with 20 points, while Ody Oguama had 14 points and 11 rebounds. 

NOTES
- Today marked the first-ever game between Hofstra and Cincinnati in men's basketball. 
- Estrada has 1,219 points in his Hofstra career to rank 26th all-time, one point behind John Mills (1941-43 and 1946-47). 
- The appearance in the NIT was Hofstra's seventh all-time and the win over Rutgers was the Pride's third-ever victory in the tournament.