Junior Aaron Estrada once again led Hofstra, scoring a career-high-tying 24 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride men’s basketball team fell on the road to Towson, 78-66, on Tuesday evening at SECU Arena. Estrada was joined in double figures by senior Omar Silverio with 14 points and Abayomi Iyiola with 12. 

Hofstra drops to 9-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play, while Towson improved to 11-5 and 2-1 in Colonial Athletic Association action. 

Towson took an early 6-2 lead just over 90 seconds into the contest before Hofstra used an 8-0 scoring run later on to earn a 13-9 lead with 16:07 showing on the clock after back-to-back three-pointers from Estrada. Towson would regain the lead as the Tigers scored eight straight points to turn a three-point deficit into a five-point advantage, 22-17, with 8:03 left in the opening stanza. 

The lead for the Tigers grew to as many as nine, 37-28, with 1:40 left in the first half before Hofstra closed the half with seven straight points, including four from Estrada and a three-pointer in waning seconds from Silverio. 

Towson opened the second half by scoring nine of the first 10 points in the stanza to take a 10-point lead, 46-36, with 16:39 left in regulation. Back-to-back three-pointers from graduate student Jalen Ray and Silverio quickly closed the gap to four less than a minute later to keep the Pride in the game. Silverio continued his hot hand later in the half, draining a jumper to make it a five-point contest, 53-48, with 11:11 showing on the clock. The Tigers answered, though, and scored nine straight points to take a commanding 62-48 lead with almost exactly nine minutes left. 

Hofstra was able to close the deficit to eight, 62-54, with 6:54 remaining after a quick 6-0 run that culminated with a driving layup from Estrada. That would be as close as the Pride would get, though, as Towson earned the win. 

Iyiola led Hofstra with seven rebounds, while Silverio added a career-high-tying six. 

Jason Gibson had 26 points, including eight three-pointers, for the Tigers, while Cameron Holden tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

Hofstra will finally return home for the first time since December 12 when it hosts Delaware on Saturday (January 15) at 2 p.m. 

Tickets are available for purchase at HofstraTickets.com, by calling (516) HOF-TIXX, or by visiting the Hofstra Athletic Ticket Office in the lobby of the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex during normal business hours. 

NOTES
– Hofstra is 46-28 all-time against Towson and the Pride has won seven of the last nine and 10 of the last 14 in the series. The Hofstra/Towson series, which began with an 86-71 Pride victory during the 1982-83 season, is the Pride’s third-most common series in program history. The 74 all-time meetings rank only behind Delaware (97) and Drexel (94). 
– Ray played in his 137th career game and hit one three-pointer in the contest to give him 269 in his career. He is now four games away from tying the school record for games played (Desure Buie; 141 from 2015-20) and eight three-pointers away from second all-time in program history (Justin Wright-Foreman; 277 from 2015-19).