Senior Desure Buie had a career-high 22 points but it wasn’t enough as the Hofstra Men’s Basketball team saw its incredible 16-game win streak come to an end in a 75-61 loss to Northeastern on Saturday evening at Matthews Arena. Graduate student Jacquil Taylor had his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds for Hofstra, while senior Justin Wright-Foreman added 15 points for the Pride.
The win streak was the longest in the nation heading into play today.
The loss drops Hofstra’s record to 19-4 overall and 9-1 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Northeastern improved to 13-9 and 7-3 in league action. It marked Hofstra’s first loss since November 24.
The win streak finishes as the third-longest in program history and the second-longest in the program’s NCAA Division I history (since 1966-67). The only streaks longer were a 23-game streak spanning the 1959-60 to 1960-61 seasons and an 18-game streak in 2000-01.
Neither team took more than a three-point lead in the contest over the first nearly 12 minutes until the Huskies scored eight straight to take a 26-19 lead with 7:29 left in the opening stanza. Buie would drain a pair of three-pointers during a quick run that closed the gap to one, 28-27, with just under four minutes left before intermission. Northeastern was able to take an eight-point lead into the locker room as the Huskies scored the final seven points of the half.
A three-point play from Taylor in the first minute of the second half closed the gap to five, 37-32, before Northeastern scored six straight points to push the lead to 11, 43-32, with 15:33 remaining. Hofstra would cut the deficit to eight on a trio of occasions over the next few minutes, including with 9:56 left on a layup from Buie that made it 51-43. A three-pointer from Bolden Brace 20 seconds later would make it an 11-point game and Hofstra was unable to rebound as they fell for just the fourth time this season.
Vasa Pusica led Northeastern with 24 points, while Bolden Brace posted 11 points and 10 rebounds in the game for the Huskies.
Hofstra returns to action when it starts a two-game home stand on Thursday against Elon. Tip-off from the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex is slated for 7 p.m. For ticket information visit HofstraTickets.com, call (516) HOF-TIXX or stop by the Hofstra Athletics Ticket Office in the lobby of the Mack Sports Complex.
NOTES
– Hofstra is 23-22 all-time against Northeastern. The Pride has won six of the last eight meetings in the series. Each team won on their respective home courts this year.
– Wright-Foreman reached double figures in scoring for the 76th consecutive game. It is the second-longest active streak in the nation and tied for the 14th-longest in NCAA Division I history. In addition, it is tied for the longest in the history of the CAA with David Robinson of Navy (1985-87) and Reggie Lewis of Northeastern (1984-87).
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