Amherst, MA - Jean Aranguren had 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds and Cruz Davis posted a career-high 21 points, six rebounds, and four assists to lead the Hofstra men's basketball team to a 75-71 road victory over Massachusetts on Saturday evening at the Mullins Center. 

The Pride is 4-0 for the second time in the past three seasons as they also began the 2022-23 campaign with four consecutive victories. 

Hofstra led by as many as 13 points in the opening 20 minutes as a three-pointer from KiJan Robinson made it 28-15 with 8:09 left before halftime. The Pride would settle in for a five-point halftime advantage. 

A four-point play from Aranguren would push it back to an eight point lead, 42-34, in the opening minutes of the second stanza. The Pride would continue to hold on to the advantage and a pair of free throws from Davis at the 8:28 mark made it 54-45. Massachusetts immediately responded, though, and used a 9-0 run to knot the game at 54. Neither team was able to pull away in the final minutes, setting up the game for the extra period. 

Aranguren was the star of the overtime to start as he scored the first six points to give the Pride a 69-63 lead. The MInuteman battled back, but Michael Graham came up huge with an offensive rebound and a putback to make it 71-68 with under a minute left. The Pride would hold a two-point lead in the closing seconds before getting a stop on the defensive end and then adding two more free throws to account for the final margin of victory.


TJ Gadsden was huge for the Pride with nine points and 12 rebounds, while Robinson had eight key points off the bench. 

Jaylen Curry led Massachusetts with 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists, while Rahsool Diggins added 16 points and six rebounds. The Minutemen dropped to 1-3 with the loss. 

Hofstra is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Florida State for a 7 p.m. contest. 

NOTES
- Hofstra improved to 2-3 all-time against Massachusetts. It marked the Pride's first win in the series since the 1971-72 season. 
- Aranguren's double-double was the Pride's second this season (KiJan Robinson vs. SUNY Old Westbury). 
- Tonight marked the first time this season the Pride had at least two players with at least 20 points. 
- The game was the Pride's first overtime contest since a 97-92 win over High Point in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase on November 22, 2023.