Senior Omar Silverio had 28 points, including tying the Hofstra single-game school record for three-pointers, to lead the Pride to a 98-84 victory over Detroit Mercy on Saturday afternoon at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
Silverio tied the school record originally established by Brian Bernardi in 2015-16 against Canisius and tied last season by graduate student Jalen Ray against Drexel. Silverio tallied his eight three-pointers on only 10 attempts, besting Bernardi (11 attempts) and Ray (13 attempts).
The win was Hofstra’s second straight and improves the Pride’s record to 3-4 this season. Detroit Mercy falls to 0-5 with the loss.
Graduate student Zach Cooks added 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, and five steals for Hofstra, while junior Aaron Estrada posted 16 points, nine assists, and five rebounds.
Hofstra scored the first seven points of the game, including a three-pointer from sophomore Darlinstone Dubar to lead 7-0 at the 17:19 mark. The lead would be six before Ray drained a three-pointer and Silverio added a basket to push the advantage to double figures, 20-9, for the first time in the game with 13:27 showing on the clock. The Pride would begin to pour it on in the opening 20 minutes as they used a 13-2 run to open up a commanding 40-19 lead with 6:49 left before the intermission. Silverio had eight points during the run, including a pair of three-pointers. The lead would be 24 at the break with Cooks tallying the final basket of the half in the waning seconds.
A basket from Cooks just over two minutes into the second stanza pushed the lead to 27, 62-35, before Detroit Mercy gradually closed the gap. The Titans would cut the deficit to 10, 70-60, with 11:54 left on a three-pointer from Antoine Davis before Hofstra closed the game with a strong run. With the lead at nine, 72-63, the Pride used a 17-4 run to expand the lead back to 22, 89-67, with exactly seven minutes remaining following a basket from Ray. The Pride would cruise from there in earning their third win of the season.
Ray finished with 15 points for Hofstra, while Dubar chipped in with 10.
Davis posted 39 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds for Detroit Mercy. Madut Akec had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Titans.
Hofstra continues its four-game homestand on Wednesday, December 1 when it hosts Princeton at 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 during normal business hours.
NOTES
– Today was the first-ever meeting between Hofstra and Detroit Mercy.
– Ray appeared in his 128th career game today, tying Charles Jenkins (2007-11) and Nathaniel Lester (2007-12) for third all-time in program history.
– Hofstra has won three straight games at home and improved to 43-12 over the last five seasons at the Mack Sports Complex.
– The program is approaching 1,300 all-time wins as today’s victory was the 1,295th in the history of the program (began in 1936-37).
– Ray went over the 1,400-point plateau in today’s game and now has 1,410. He is only the 15th player in program history with at least 1,400 career points and is 12 points shy of 14th place in school history (Rick Apodaca; 1,422 from 1999-2003).
– Hofstra shot 62.5% (35-56) from the field in the game. It marked the first time the Pride has shot at least 60% from the field since shooting 60.4% in the win over #23 Richmond on December 22, 2020.
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