The Hofstra men’s basketball team defeated the Canisius College Golden Griffins 64-57 on Monday, Dec. 2, to capture the Boca Raton Beach Classic title at FAU Arena at Florida Atlantic University.
Tareq Coburn registered a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Pride to their fifth win in the last six games. Hofstra improved to 6-3 overall on the season, while Canisius fell to 4-3 with the loss.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich. “That team is good, especially a really good defensive team, and we talked about being tougher than them when we were on offense, but it was our defense that won us the game.”
The Pride got off to a quick start as Coburn and Eli Pemberton fueled the way to a 12-7 lead after six minutes of play. The Golden Griffins battled back, however, and tied the score at 17 apiece after a Majesty Brandon layup.
Hofstra took back the momentum and used an 11-2 scoring run to go in front 28-19, forcing Canisius head coach Reggie Witherspoon to call a timeout. After the break, Malik Johnson and Armon Harried brought the Golden Griffins back once again and powered them to an 8-0 run to trail 28-26 at halftime.
Canisius came out on fire in the second half and quickly went in front 41-34 during the first five minutes of play. Hofstra turned things around and came back within a point after a 6-0 run. Coburn’s layup with seven minutes remaining put the Pride ahead for good at 50-48.
“We were up seven with three and a half minutes to go in the first half and then we were down six [points] four minutes into the second half, so in that seven minutes we were terrible,” Mihalich said. “We could’ve packed it in and felt sorry for ourselves, but we didn’t and I’m proud of our guys for playing like champions.”
The Pride took a ten-point lead with 2:29 remaining in the game and survived a late push by Canisius to win 64-57.
Hofstra was led by 19 points and six assists from Desure Buie, 18 points and 11 rebounds from Coburn and 16 points and eight rebounds from Pemberton. For Canisius, Harried led the way with 15 points, followed by 12 points from Johnson.
To seal the game, Hofstra relied on consistency from the foul line. The Pride was nearly perfect and made 16 out of 17 free-throws in the night.
“Tough kids make foul shots,” Mihalich said. “It’s not about bending your knees or following through. It’s about being tough. It’s about wanting to be here and saying, ‘You know what, give me the ball because I’m going to make this foul shot.’ That’s the way these guys are.”
The Pride is now 4-1 on their current road trip and will finish it off on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 2:30 p.m. when they travel upstate to take on the St. Bonaventure Bonnies.
Image courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
