West Long Branch, NJ – Cruz Davis led a quartet of Hofstra men's basketball players in double figures with 24 points and Silas Sunday finished with his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Pride handed hosts Monmouth a 73-57 defeat from inside OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
 
In addition to Cruz and Sunday's double-digit scoring days, Joshua Aaron Reaves produced a season-best 17 points, and Preston Edmead continued his sensational freshman campaign with 13 points and a season-high-tying eight assists against the Hawks.
 
The Pride snapped a five-game losing streak with the win to improve to 14-9 overall and 5-5 in the CAA, and Monmouth drops to 11-12 overall and 5-5 against conference competition.
 
The Pride stormed out to a commanding 21-5 lead to open the contest behind 10 points by Davis, three Reaves threes, and a Sunday jumper inside the opening 10 minutes. Monmouth put an end to the run with a 10-3 run of their own to narrow the deficit to nine at the 7:07 mark.  Davis knocked down his third three of the half to end the Monmouth run and put the Pride's lead back at double-digits on the next possession, but Monmouth scored on its next three offensive possessions to trail by just six with 5:01 left in the half. Baskets by Davis and Edmead were canceled out by back-to-back twos by Monmouth's Stefanos Spartalis to keep the difference at six, but a three-point play by Reaves widened the gap to nine points. Davis' fourth three of the day at 1:54 upped the Hofstra lead to 10 before Monmouth ended the half on a 6-0 spurt to trail by just four at the break.
 
The Hawks kept it close to begin the second half, answering Hofstra baskets with ones of their own, before an 8-2 burst with threes by Edmead and German Plotnikov and a layup by Sunday gave the Pride a 51-40 lead at the 14:01 mark. Monmouth brought the difference back to single digits on a Corey Miller layup at 12:44, but it would be the last time the Hawks came within single-digits of the Pride, as Hofstra scored seven of the next nine points to take a 16-point lead with 10:14 left in the game. After the Pride's lead grew to 17 with 7:44 remaining in regulation, Monmouth cut the lead to 11 with an 8-2 run lasting nearly four minutes, but an Edmead jumper at 3:05 sparked a 6-0 Hofstra run to put the game out of reach with 64 seconds remaining in regulation. The Hawks scored three of the final five points of the contest before time expired.
 
Justin Ray was the leading scorer for Monmouth with 15 points, followed by Cornelius Robinson Jr. with 14, and Andrew Ball with 10 points.
 
Hofstra returns to the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex for a pair of home games, beginning on Thursday, February 5, with a 7 p.m. matchup against Northeastern on Jewish Heritage Night. For ticket information visit HofstraTickets.com. 
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra improves to 10-9 all-time against Monmouth with Saturday's win, and it's the ninth Pride victory over the Hawks in the last 12 meetings.
-The 34 minutes played are a season-high for Reaves.
-Edmead's eight assists ties his previous high set against Penn on November 30.
-Hofstra dominated Monmouth on the glass, pulling down 40 team rebounds to Monmouth's 22.