Edmead Sends Hofstra to CAA Championship Game with Overtime Winner
Dylan Smith
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | TICKETS
PHOTO GALLERY | HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE – HOFSTRA | PRESS CONFERENCE – TOWSON
WASHINGTON, D.C. – CAA Rookie of the Year Preston Edmead nailed a three-pointer from the right wing with 0.4 seconds left in overtime to lift No. 3 Hofstra over No. 7 Towson, 68-65, in the second semifinal game of the 2026 Air Force Reserve CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Monday night at CareFirst Arena.
The game-winning trey sent the Pride (23-10) to the CAA championship game for the first time since 2020, where they will face No. 4 Monmouth on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. with an automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament on the line. Towson dropped to 19-15 after the setback, falling in the semifinals for the fifth year in a row.
Edmead, who played all 45 minutes in the contest, went 5-of-13 from beyond the arc and finished with a team-high 22 points. CAA Player of the Year Cruz Davis tallied 18 points for Hofstra and Joshua DeCady had 10.
Towson got another tremendous effort from junior Tyler Tejada, who poured in a game-high 29 points and grabbed a team-best seven rebounds. His 94 points in three games set a tournament record. Dylan Williamson chipped in 15 points for the Tigers.
Edmead’s three-pointer with 1:51 left in overtime put Hofstra up 65-61, but Towson answered with a floater in the lane from Tejada and a putback from Jaquan Womack to tie the contest at 65 with 20 seconds on the clock. The Pride decided not to call time out and put the ball in the hands of Edmead, who watched the clock wind down before delivering the game-winner on a 27-footer that banked off the glass.
Tied at 44 with under nine minutes to play in regulation, Hofstra’s Davis and Towson’s Williamson traded makes from all over the court before an Edmead stepback trey gave Hofstra a 55-52 lead with 2:12 to play in regulation. Tejada stormed down the lane three possessions later and sank his layup through contact to knot the game at 55. Both teams were unable to convert opportunities in the final 34 seconds, forcing the game to overtime.
The distance shooting from Edmead and German Plotnikov guided the Pride out to a 13-7 advantage. Towson surged behind the hot hands of Tejada, who closed out a 15-5 run with the final eight points to take a four-point edge, 22-18, with under six minutes to play. Davis pulled Hofstra to within one, 28-27, at the break after cutting through two defenders for a wide-open slam.
The second half became a battle between a pair of CAA Players of the Year in Hofstra’s Davis and Towson’s Tejada. The Pride bolstered a 38-33 lead at the 14:54 mark behind eight consecutive points from Davis. Tejada helped drive the retaliation with six points on the Tigers’ 11-6 run, capped off by a Williamson jumper to knot the game at 44 with 9:15 to play.
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