New York, NY - Cruz Davis scored 16 of his 24 points after halftime and the Pride nearly overcame a 16-point second half deficit before falling, 72-70, on Wednesday evening at Levien Gymnasium. 

The Pride trailed by 16 with 15:07 left in regulation before nearly completing the comeback. Preston Edmead was also a spark in the second half as he scored 14 of his 16 points in the final 20 minutes. 

Hofstra slipped to 5-4 with the loss. Columbia improved to 8-1 with the win. 

The Lions took a 10-point lead into the break as they sank a three-pointer at the first half buzzer to account for the halftime advantage. 

After the lead grew to 16 in the second stanza, Hofstra slowly chipped away and a three-pointer from Edmead brought the deficit to single digits, 57-50, with 10:41 left. A free throw from Edmead at the 6:13 mark made it a two-point game and the Pride would close the gap to two on a number of occasions down the stretch but were unable to take the lead in the contest. 

Joshua DeCady added 12 points in the game, while Silas Sunday had a strong game with five points and a team-high nine rebounds. 

Kenny Noland led Columbia with 19 points, while Ryan Soulis had 14 points and 10 rebounds. 

Hofstra is back in action on Sunday when it travels to Pittsburgh for a 4 p.m. contest. 

NOTES
- Hofstra is now 11-3 all-time against Columbia. Today was the first meeting between the teams since an 88-86 meeting during the 2016-17 season. 
- Davis has scored in double figures in all nine games this season, Edmead in eight, and DeCady for the second time this year. 
- The 20-point game was Davis's fourth this season.