It was a career-high day for Aaron Estrada, as he was able to pour in 40 points in the Hofstra Men’s Basketball 85-65 victory over Elon. Thursday seems to be a lucky day for the Pride as the team has now won 19 consecutive games on that day.
That trend continued thanks to Estrada, who was all over the floor for Hofstra, the last time the Redshirt Senior saw 35 points was against James Madison on February 5, 2022. At that time Estrada was 16-for 25 from the field, while also having 8-fro-15 from three-point range in the game. The last time Hofstra University saw a 40-point game performance was also against Elon, but that was when Omar Silverio reached that feat.
Overall the Pride have been playing well as the team has now won two straight, in addition to six of their last seven games. Hofstra now improves to a 14-8 overall record, while also having a 7-2 mark in Colonial Athletic Association Play.
Hofstra was able to get on the scoreboard quickly, tallying six early on and was able to have a 17-5 run to be able to get a 28-17 lead. Elon was able to get back into the game though, by rattling off 10 points of the half, and cutting the lead to 35-33 at the Half.
The action went back and forth between the two teams, before Estrada hit a key three-pointer that made the game 39-37 with 18:44 left. Elon had themselves a solid lead, but Hofstra was able to fight back thanks to Estrada who tied things up.
The Pride then took over the momentum of the game scoring 10 consecutive points to gain a 55-45 lead thanks to a three-pointer by Tyler Thomas.
Elon hung though though, as they cut the lead to four 63-59 with about 7:19 left in the game. Hofstra roared back with a 11-0 run to seal the deal.
Rounding out the scoring for Hofstra was Thomas who had 23 points, that included five three-pointers. Also shining was Jaquan Carlos who had nine assist in what was a stellar showing for the Pride.
Hofstra will continue their road trip on Saturday as they will travel to #18 Charleston for a 4:00 p.m. game
NOTES
– Hofstra is 12-5 all-time against Elon and the Pride has won seven of the last nine games in the series with the Phoenix.
– Hofstra is now 93-19 over the past nine seasons when holding its opponent under 70 points. The Pride is 7-2 this season in that scenario and 17-4 under Speedy Claxton.
– With his 40 points in the game, Estrada is now just six points shy of 1,000 for his Hofstra career. He would become the 40th member of the 1,000-Point Club at Hofstra.
– With Estrada (eight) and Thomas (five) each having five or more three-pointers, it marked the first time since February 13, 2021 that two Pride players each had five or more three-pointers in the same game. Jalen Ray and Tareq Coburn each tallied five against James Madison.
– The 40-point game was the 18th in program history.
– Hofstra is 10-1 over the past two seasons when two players score 20 or more points in the same game and 28-6 since the start of the 2017-18 season in that scenario.
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