Senior Desure Buie continued his outstanding senior season with 22 points and seven assists, while junior Tareq Coburn tallied 19 points and five three-pointers to lead the Hofstra men’s basketball team to a convincing 83-60 victory over William & Mary on Saturday at Kaplan Arena. Sophomore Isaac Kante was stellar down low for the Pride with 13 points and 11 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year.
Hofstra now leads the nation with nine road victories and the win sends the Pride into a tie for first in the league standings with Charleston and William & Mary.
Hofstra won its third straight game to improve to 17-7 overall and 8-3 in Colonial Athletic Association play. William & Mary fell to 16-8 and 8-3 in the league.
Senior Eli Pemberton got Hofstra off to a solid start in the game as he scored the contest’s first five points to stake the Pride to the early advantage. With William & Mary holding a narrow one-point lead, 9-8, Hofstra would score six straight points to push the lead back to five, 14-9, with 13:09 left in the opening stanza. The Pride would later put together a significant 12-2 run to turn a narrow two-point lead, 16-14, into a 28-16 advantage with 8:22 remaining following a three-pointer from Buie and a layup from Pemberton. Hofstra continued to lead the remainder of the half and the lead would be at four with just over a minute remaining before Coburn gave the Pride the momentum with back-to-back three-pointers with under 30 seconds to play in the half to push the lead to ten, 43-33, at the break.
The Tribe had the deficit at seven, 47-40, with 16 minutes left in regulation following a pair of free throws from Bryce Barnes before Hofstra took complete control of the contest. The Pride would put together a 16-2 run that made the score 63-42 with 11:59 showing on the clock. Kante had six points during the run, while junior Jalen Ray added five, including a three-pointer to give Hofstra its first 20-plus point lead of the day. The lead ballooned to as much as 29, 78-49, with 5:58 to play after a three-pointer from Buie and Hofstra would settle in for a 23-point win as Buie and freshman Caleb Burgess had baskets in the final two minutes to account for the final margin.
Pemberton finished with 16 points and five rebounds for Hofstra, which also got 10 points and four assists from Ray. Nathan Knight had 19 points and 16 rebounds for William & Mary, while Barnes added 11 points and six rebounds.
Hofstra is back at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Saturday, February 8 when it hosts Northeastern in its lone game of the week. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. Join us for Winter Homecoming on February 8-9, 2020. This fun-filled weekend will feature a pair of Pride basketball games and other events! Purchase your early bird tickets for just $15 for the men’s basketball game (use code EARLY)! In addition, you will receive a FREE Speedy Claxton jersey t-shirt with your purchase.
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 during normal business hours.
NOTES
– Hofstra leads the all-time series with William & Mary, 23-14. The Pride has won four of the last five in the series.
– Buie now has 1,137 career points to move into 29th place all-time at Hofstra. He passed Mike Moore (1,128 from 2010-12) and Wandy Williams (1,132 from 1966-69).
– Pemberton now has 190 three-pointers to move into a tie for sixth all-time in program history with Rick Apodaca (1999-2003).
– Kante was a perfect 6-6 from the field in the game. It marked the fifth game this season where he has made all of his field goal attempts.