Washington, D.C. -
German Plotnikov poured in a career-high 23 points and added a career-high 10 rebounds, while
Cruz Davis scored 18 of his 19 points in the first half to lead the Hofstra men's basketball team to a 77-55 rout of North Carolina A&T in the first round of the 2025 Jersey Mike's CAA Men's Basketball Championship on Friday evening at the CareFirst Arena.
The double-double was the first of Plotnikov's career.
Hofstra, the 11th seed in the tournament, moves to 15-17 on the year. North Carolina A&T, the 14th seed, sees its season come to an end with a record of 7-25.
Hofstra scored 12 of the first 14 points in the contest and held a 12-2 lead nearly eight minutes into the game following a basket from Plotnikov. The Aggies closed the gap to four later in the half, but the Pride broke the game open with a 20-4 run that culminated with a jumper from Davis at the 1:29 mark.
After taking the 20-point halftime advantage, Hofstra never let up in the second stanza and took its first 30-point lead with 8:45 remaining following a three-pointer from
TJ Gadsden. Hofstra grew the lead to as many as 32 in the contest before settling for the 22-point victory.
Gadsden added eight points and five rebounds off the bench for the Pride, which also got six points and six rebounds from
Michael Graham. Davis had a game-high eight assists and
Jean Aranguren contributed six points and five assists.
Jahnathan Lamothe has 21 points for North Carolina A&T, while Efstratios Kalliontzis added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Hofstra advances to face Monmouth, the sixth seed, on Saturday evening at 8:30 p.m. That game will air on FloCollege and WRHU (HAWC).
NOTES
- Hofstra improved to 4-1 all-time against North Carolina A&T. The Pride won both meetings this season.
- Plotnikov previously tallied a career-high 20 points on a pair of occasions, most recently against Northeastern on February 17, 2024. His previous career-high of eight rebounds came against St. Joseph's (L.I.) on November 6, 2023.
- Hofstra has now won at least one game in the CAA Championship in three consecutive seasons and in six of the last seven years.