By Gio Annatelli -- STAFF WRITER The Hofstra Pride men’s basketball team bounced back from their loss to College of Charleston on Thursday to beat the Elon Phoenix 80-76. The Pride move to 11-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference. The Phoenix fall to 11-6 and 2-2 in CAA play.
Sophomore Rokas Gustys had a game for the books, scoring 19 points, grabbing 12 rebounds, and sending away four shots. This is Gustys’ sixth double-double of the season. This was a career-high for the big man in points and offensive rebounds, pulling down eight.
The “big three” of Juan’ya Green, Ameen Tanksley, and Brian Bernardi each contributed in the win. Green nearly had a triple-double, with 18 points, eight rebounds, and continuing to stay on top of the CAA with seven assists. Tanksley scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half to give the Pride that final push. Bernardi came off one of his worst games of his Hofstra career by scoring 13 points, hitting three-of-four from behind the arc.
This was a close game from the get-go, but would also be a game of streaks. With 13:28 left in the first half, the Phoenix would hit a layup before the Pride did what they did best, go on a run of three-point barrages. Hofstra hit three treys in a row, two by Bernardi and one from Green to put them up 30-17 halfway through the first half. Elon would battle back and close the gap within two, but the Pride would go on a 7-0 run capped off by a vicious Gustys slam to beat the buzzer. Hofstra would go into the locker room up 43-35.
It would be a tale of two halves, as the Phoenix would challenge the Pride by going on a 7-1 run to bring the game within two, and then eventually take their first lead in a long while with 11 minutes to go. Hofstra would go on a seven point run before more back-and-forth action would leave the teams knotted up at 73.
Not phased by Elon’s second-half turnaround, Tanksley would come up big for the Pride, hitting a layup and a jumper to give them a 77-73 lead with a minute to go. Green would go three-for-four from the charity stripe in the final seconds before the Phoenix would hit a layup with just about a second remaining.
There would be some confusion going on in Alumni Gym, with fans leaving thinking the game was over. The cheerleaders would go on the court to do their end of the game routine before being waved off by the referees so Hofstra can inbound the ball to end the game.
Denton Koon would round out the starting lineup by scoring nine points and pulling down eight rebounds. Elon would hold the Pride to just four points from their bench, all coming from Malik Nichols. Hofstra is now 4-0 all-time against the Phoenix.
The Pride return to action Thursday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. as they host the Drexel Dragons at the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.