A match-up of two of the top teams in the Colonial Athletic Association didn’t disappoint as Hofstra and Charleston battled for 40 minutes before the Cougars earned a narrow 69-67 victory over the Pride on Saturday afternoon at TD Arena.
Senior Desure Buie was outstanding for Hofstra with a team-high 19 points and a game-high nine assists, while sophomore Isaac Kante posted his fourth double-double of the season with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior Tareq Coburn scored all 16 of his points in the opening 20 minutes, including five three-pointers. Sam Miller, who led Charleston with 20 points, gave Charleston a two-point lead late and eventually notched the game-winner with nine seconds left.
The loss ended a three-game win streak for Hofstra, which fell to 14-6 and 5-2 in conference play. Charleston improved to 12-8 and 6-2 in the CAA.
Coburn gave an early indication that he was going to have one of those days as he drained the Pride’s first two shots of the game, both from long range, for an early 6-3 lead less than a minute into the contest. Coburn added his third three of the game, and got fouled in the process, to push the Pride advantage to 12-7 with 17:27 left before intermission. Trailing by one, 24-23, Hofstra would use an 18-8 run to take a nine-point advantage (41-32) after back-to-back three-pointers from Coburn and sophomore Omar Silverio with 3:33 left before intermission. Charleston chipped away and was able to close the gap to two at halftime despite Hofstra shooting 55% from the field and 62% (8-13) from three-point range during the first 20 minutes.
Charleston scored the first four points of the second stanza to take a 43-41 advantage with 18:46 left in regulation. The score would be knotted at 49 later in the half until the Cougars quickly scored four straight and led 53-49 with 11:59 remaining. Charleston would still lead by four, 55-51, before Hofstra used an 8-1 run to retake the lead at 59-56 with 7:15 left on the clock following a jumper from senior Eli Pemberton. The last couple minutes would provide some exciting basketball between two of the top teams in the league as a three-pointer from junior Jalen Ray with 1:31 left gave Hofstra a 65-64 lead before Miller answered with a three-pointer of his own at the one-minute mark to put the Cougars back in front. Kante evened the score for the Pride with 40 ticks left but Miller had the final answer and hit a shot in the paint with nine seconds left to provide the difference and give Charleston the win.
Ray finished with 12 points for Hofstra. Grant Riller had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Charleston.
Hofstra is back in action on Thursday when it hosts Delaware in a special 6:30 p.m. start time from the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex. The game will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network. 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
– Charleston leads the all-time series with Hofstra, 7-6, and today’s result ended a two-game win streak in the series for the Pride.
– Hofstra hit 10 three-pointers in the game, marking the fifth time this season they have reached double figures in three-pointers.
– Buie now has 1,066 career points to move into 34th place all-time at Hofstra in scoring. He passed Darius Burton, who had 1,060 from 1993-97.
– Buie played in his 127th career game today. He is one game shy of the school record of 128 held by Charles Jenkins and Nathanial Lester.
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