Hofstra Pulls Away For 61-43 Victory Over Drexel
Rob Washburn
BOX SCORE | HIGHLIGHTS | SIGHTS & SOUNDS | PHOTO GALLERY | HOFSTRA PRESSER | DREXEL PRESSER
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 8, 2020) – Senior guard Eli Pemberton scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as top-seeded Hofstra pulled away for a 61-43 victory over 8
th-seeded Drexel in the first quarterfinal game of the 2020 Hercules Tires CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday afternoon at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
Hofstra (24-8) will meet either #4 Charleston or #5 Delaware in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Monday. Drexel’s season came to a close with a 14-19 mark.
Pemberton, who also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds for his third double-double of the season, was one of four Hofstra players in double figures. Backcourt mates Desure Buie and Jalen Ray each poured in 14 points and post player Isaac Kante chipped in 13.
A pair of Drexel players recorded double-doubles as Zach Walton tallied a team-best 17 points and 10 rebounds, and James Butler contributed 14 points and 14 boards for his 20
th double-double of the season.
The Pride was up just 25-22 at the break but turned in a dominant second-half performance. Pemberton reeled off the first seven points of the period to push Hofstra to its largest lead of the game, 32-22, with 17:45 to go. The Pride steadily added to the margin over the next nine minutes and pushed the advantage to 20 with a Ray 3-pointer that made it 55-35 with 8:14 on the clock. Drexel never got closer than 18 the rest of the way.
Hofstra shot 46.6% from the floor in the game, including 53.3% in the second half. Drexel hit only 32.1% of its field goal attempts and was 2-of-22 from 3-point range. The 43 points were the fewest the Dragons scored in a game all season.
Butler scored eight points during an early 11-0 run that put the Dragons on top, 11-5, with 11:37 remaining in the opening half. Hofstra battled back behind the shooting of Ray, who drained a 3-pointer from the left wing that gave the Pride a 22-20 advantage with 2:13 left. A 3-point play by Kante allowed Hofstra to take a 25-22 lead into intermission. Butler finished the first 20 minutes with team-highs of 10 points and nine rebounds for the Dragons, while Ray tallied nine points for the Pride.