BOSTON, MA – Off late-game heroics by senior guard Eli Pemberton, the Pride men’s basketball team was able to escape Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) rival Northeastern, 74-72 at Matthews Arena in Boston, Massachusetts on Thursday, Jan. 9.
In the waning seconds of a tight game, Pemberton drove to his left and rose up in the lane to hit an off-balance floater to secure the win for his team and move the Pride to 4-1 in CAA competition. Pemberton poured in a team-high 24 points, while senior Desure Buie assisted with 23 points along with four rebounds, four assists and three steals of his own.
“We just wanted [him] to drive it to the basket,” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich on Pemberton’s game-winning shot. “We knew he could get a little bit of an advantage on the guy that was guarding him.”
“I just wanted to win,” Pemberton added. “We owed these guys, just like coach [Mihalich] said, we always have great games against them. I am just happy to get this one back since they got the last one before, and that was one that meant a lot.”
The lights were big for this contest as it was the first matchup this season between these two teams since they met in the CAA championship game a year ago, in which the top-seeded Pride fell to Northeastern. The game was nationally televised on CBS and had a raucous crowd to cheer on the defending CAA champion Northeastern Huskies.
Hofstra got off to a hot start going up 18-9 with14:22 left until intermission. A few minutes later, the Pride took their first double-digit lead of the contest off a layup by Isaac Kante in the midst of the team’s 11-2 run. Northeastern came to as close as 29-20 after a three-pointer by the second-leading scorer in the CAA in Jordan Roland, but the Pride ended up extending their lead to 40-24 heading into halftime.
In the second half the Huskies went nuclear, with Roland leading the way by knocking down seven three-pointers in the half to bring his team back. Bolden Brace gave the Huskies a 62-61 lead with 5:14 to play in the contest. Both teams continued to battle back and forth, hitting big shot after big shot in order to keep their momentum. After Hofstra had taken a slight lead, Roland hit a big three-pointer to tie the game at 72 with 13 seconds left in the game. Shortly after, Pemberton hit his game-winning floater to seal the win for the Pride in the hostile environment.
Hofstra now moves to 13-5 on the season, while Northeastern falls to 9-8 and 3-2 in league action. Roland led the Huskies with 28 points while Brace added 18 points and 10 boards for his team.
Hofstra will have a little break, and return to action next Thursday, Jan. 16 when they travel to UNCW for a 7 p.m. showdown.
Image courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
