The Hofstra men’s basketball team will begin their pursuit of a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) championship on Sunday when they take on the College of William & Mary Tribe (W&M) in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament. 

No. 8 William & Mary advanced to the quarterfinal round after taking down No. 9 Elon University, 73-51, on Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Miguel Ayesa matched his career-high with 23 points for the Tribe and established a new program record by knocking down seven three-pointers, which is the second most ever in a CAA tournament game.

Ayesa wasn’t the only member of the Tribe that caught fire from long range, either. As a team, W&M shot a combined 43.8% from beyond the arc to set a single-game program record. Matteus Case and Tyler Rice each poured in 11 points, while Chris Mullens, Anders Nelson and Ben Wight combined for 14 assists. 

The last time Hofstra saw W&M back on Jan. 7, the Pride rode a pair of 20-point performances from Aaron Estrada and Tyler Thomas to a 75-62 victory.  Both players received all-CAA honors this past week, as Estrada was named to the all-conference first team and crowned the CAA  Player of the Year for the second season in a row, while Thomas was selected to the all-conference second team. 

If that isn’t enough of a confidence builder, Hofstra enters action today as the first seed in the tournament while carrying an 11-game winning streak. 

The game is scheduled to tip off at noon and will stream on FloSports, while 88.7 FM WRHU will carry an audio-only broadcast. 

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Lee S. Weissman