Eli Pemberton tied his career high of 28 points as the Hofstra men’s basketball team widened their first-place lead, dominating the College of Charleston Cougars 76-63 on Thursday, Feb. 13, at David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich. “We really answered the bell.”
The Pride opened the game on a 7-0 run and did not look back. Hofstra never relinquished their lead while going up by as much as 19 points in the battle for first in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
“We made some better plays than them throughout the course of the game,” Mihalich said. “And we got a high-level performance from Elijah [Pemberton].”
Pemberton struggled earlier in the year against Charleston, shooting 1-for-8 from the field and managing only two points in the 69-67 road loss.
This time around, Pemberton responded by shooting an impressively efficient 10-for-14 from the field en route to tying his career high of 28 points.
“It was definitely motivating,” Pemberton said. “We just wanted to go out there and keep first place.”
Isaac Kante also had an outstanding game for the Pride, contributing 11 points on 71% shooting and grabbing 11 boards.
“[Kante] had force inside,” Mihalich said. “He keeps getting better and better.”
The Pride was able to out-rebound the Cougars 44-32, a battle that they lost to Charleston by seven in their earlier defeat.
For Charleston, projected NBA draft pick Grant Riller compiled 27 points, going 10-for-20 from the field, but received little support as no other Charleston player reached double digits in scoring.
Despite Riller’s strong showing, the Pride’s defense was able to hold him to only six points in the first half.
The Pride defense was also able to force Riller into a team-high five turnovers.
“I thought in general our defense was really good,” Mihalich said. “They play in unison.”
Pemberton was able to snag four steals to go along with his impressive night, but he wasn’t the only one in the backcourt to make noise as Jalen Ray chipped in 14 points and Desure Buie was right behind him with 13.
Hofstra led by double digits for the majority of the game, including the final 13:29 of the game, not allowing Charleston a chance at a comeback.
“We played forty minutes tonight,” Mihalich said. “We played wire to wire and it was good to have the lead from wire to wire.”
The Pride holds onto first place while winning their fifth straight game to give them a 19-7 record and 10-3 record in the CAA. Charleston drops their second game in a row and falls to a 15-11 record and 9-5 in CAA play.
“There’s a lot more work to do,” Mihalich said. “But if you told me at the beginning of the year that at this point we’d have a one game lead, I’m sure we’d take that.”
The Pride is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 15, against UNC-Wilmington at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex at 5 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
