The Hofstra men’s basketball team’s valiant effort on Saturday night in Hempstead fell short in a one-point loss to the College of Charleston, with a final score of 86-85.  

The two bright stars for the Pride were, per usual, Justin Wright-Foreman, the No. 4 leading scorer in the nation with an average of 25 points per game, and crafty sophomore guard Eli Pemberton.  

The two guards combined for 44 points, four assists and six rebounds. 

 It was also a quiet night for one of the nation’s elite rebounders, Rokas Gustys, who posted only six points and nine rebounds and went a cold 0-5 from the charity stripe.

“Heartbreaker.  It was a great game; two great teams going head to head, toe to toe. I mean they are a really good team,” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich.  

Charleston scored on nine of their final 12 possessions and outshot the Pride the entire game (57 percent to 46 percent).  The loss dropped Hofstra to 7-5 in the CAA and 14-10 overall, while the Cougars improved to 9-3 in conference action and 18-6 overall.  Despite a three-point lead going into the half, Charleston outplayed Hofstra in the post right from the opening tip-off, outscoring them 38-12 down low.

Mihalich praised the Charleston squad a number of times. “They’re just a tough team to match up with,” he said. Grant Riller led the Cougar charge with a team-high 24 points, while Joe Chealey finished with 19 points and Jarrell Brantley had 23 points and seven rebounds to continue his stellar season performance.

Focusing more on the positives, Wright-Foreman moved into a tie with Carlos Rivera for No. 19 on the all-time Hofstra scoring list with 1,225 points. He also extended the nation’s longest double-figure consecutive game scoring streak to 46 games with his 24-point performance.  

The Hofstra bench also heavily outscored the Cougars, including a combined 21 points from Jalen Ray and Kenny Wormley.