The closeness of the game was made apparent immediately. Mini-spurts by each team earned the largest advantage each achieved in the first half. Five unanswered points by the Rams gave Fordham a 16-11 lead at 13:25 of the first half. Late in the half, six straight points by the visitors earned Charlotte a 28-24 advantage with 3:02 left in the half. To the joy of the hopeful fans in the gym, Fordham led 30-29 at the half.

Charlotte began the second half with three straight baskets to move ahead by a score of 35-30. Chris Gaston then put on a one-man show. The Fordham frosh scored the next 12 points to give the Rams a 42-35 lead with 14:58 remaining in the game. Fordham coach Jared Grasso said of the young man’s effort, “He’s the best freshman in the league. Today, he was the best player in the league.  He put the team on his back.” Two layups by Fordham’s Jacob Green gave Fordham its game high lead of 10 points, 59-49, with 6:59 left. The lead was reversed with an 18 point contribution by Derrio Green of Charlotte during the final five minutes. Green scored 22 of his team high of 24 in the second half. Grasso praised the achievement,

“Derrio Green was fantastic. Hats off to him! He made some great shots. That’s what great players do.” Fordham’s Chris Gaston accomplished his 13^th double-double of the season. He scored 32 points and grabbed 12 boards. He also led the Rams with six assists. He is the favorite to earn the A-10 Rookie of the Year award at the conclusion of the season.

Grasso, youngest head coach in NCAA Division I, was pleased by the progress of his freshman dominated squad, “It was one of those games where we had them on the ropes. This team grew up today. This team, when we add some pieces, will be very good. I’m happy with where we are. We’re moving in the right direction.” The Rams return home on Saturday, February 13^th for a 1 PM matinee with George Washington.

With the win, the Pride improves to 15-9 overall and 7-6 in the CAA, while also improving to 10-2 this season in games decided by five points or less. Towson slips to 8-17 overall and 3-10 in league play.

Washington capped a flurry under the basket that featured two Pride offensive rebounds before he made a high-arching jumper from the left wing to hand Hofstra a 70-68 lead. Junior guard Josh Thornton hit four three-pointers for Towson and was 4-9 from the field, but his potential game-tying 20-foot shot near the arc fell short of the rim and went out-of-bounds with an even two seconds left on the clock, preserving the Hofstra victory.

Sophomore guard Nathaniel Lester (Brooklyn, NY) scored five straight points to break a tie late in the second half and put Hofstra ahead 66-61. Lester had all but two of his career-high 21 points in the second half. Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) added a game-high 24 points in just

27 minutes after picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, and Arminas Urbutis (Kaunas, Lithuania) scored a career-high 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his first double-double.

Junior Hairston scored a team-high 23 points for Towson, including a three-pointer that tied it at 68 with 1:11 left before Washington’s go-ahead basket. The Pride, which trailed by as much as 12 points in the contest, opened up a late lead when Lester scored five straight points to break a 61-all tie with 3:15 remaining. Lester earned a lay-up coming out of a time-out, Urbutis grabbed a key defensive rebound on Towson’s next possession to lock up his double-double. Senior guard Zygis Sestokas (Vilnius, Lithuania) then hit Lester with a crisp pass and Lester drew a foul on David Brewster while hitting the shot in the paint. Lester completed the three-point play with a free throw, building a 66-61 lead with 2:26 left.

Sestokas earlier hit a three-pointer, the 98th in his career, for a

60-57 Hofstra lead and provided tight defense on Thornton’s tying shot with two seconds left. With Jenkins on the bench after picking up his fourth foul nearly four minutes into the second half, the Pride surged in front when Lester hit a three-pointer in front of Hofstra’s bench for a 50-49 lead with 10:41 left, the Pride’s first lead since 2-0.

Lester then forced a Towson timeout after hitting another three from the opposite wing just 2:03 later to put the Pride up 53-51 after Troy Franklin put the Tigers back ahead. Lester added another jumper and a lay-in off a drive, giving him eight points in less than three minutes.

Hofstra fell behind as much as 12 points in the first half before Jenkins initiated the comeback. Jenkins produced nearly half of the Pride’s offense, scoring 16 points on 6-11 shooting to cut Towson’s lead to 35-31 at the break. Urbutis also reached his career high of 10 points in the first half alone, eclipsing his previous best of nine points, which he had accomplished six times.

Towson forged a 10-1 run midway through to build an 18-7 lead with

10:35 remaining. Rocky Coleman hit a three-pointer with a defender in his face and Robert Nwankwo followed a Tigers defensive stop with a two-handed put-back dunk for the 11-point edge.

Hofstra cut the deficit to four following Jenkins’ running jumper through the paint. Josh Thornton re-established a double-digit lead for the visitors minutes later, finishing a catch-and-shoot three-pointer off Brian Morris’s quick pass to cap an 8-0 run, building a 28-16 lead.

Jenkins scored Hofstra’s next seven points, including a lay-in off a loose ball in the paint while Urbutis chipped in six of his 10 points in the  final five minutes. The duo accounted for all but five of the Pride’s points before halftime.

Hofstra shot 53.8 percent in the second half (14-26) after shooting only 29.6 percent in the opening stanza (8-27). The Pride also outrebounded the Tigers 31-27 on the afternoon.

The Pride will be back in action Tuesday when it hosts CAA-rival Old Dominion in a game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) scored a team-high 22 points for the Pride and sophomore guard Nathanial Lester (Brooklyn, NY) finished in double-figures for the third straight game, chipping in 12 points. But it wasn’t enough to extend the Pride’s winning streak to five, as Hofstra fell to 14-8 and 6-5 in the CAA with the defeat.

Hofstra also lost for just the second time this season in games decided by five points or less, dropping to 9-2.

Maynor was the difference-maker, erasing a 58-all tie by scoring six straight points down the stretch to help the Rams improve to 16-6 and 9-2 in the conference. VCU entered the matinee just a game behind Northeastern for first place in the CAA.

Hofstra led by as many as 12 points before freshman guard Bradford Burgess (11 points) and Maynor, the reigning CAA Player of the Year, mounted the comeback. Burgess hit a three-pointer near the top of the key to tie it at 58 with 4:16 left.

VCU rode Maynor to a six-point lead after he hit a free throw, buried a three-pointer and added a jumper on the Rams subsequent trio of possessions, moving the Rams ahead 64-58 with 1:42 left. After making a free-throw, Maynor stole a pass-at midcourt and raced in for an uncontested lay-up to build the lead to three. On the other end of the floor, Maynor blocked Jenkins’s driving attempt and secured the win by hitting a deep three-pointer from the left wing make it 64-58.Jenkins added four free throws afterwards, but the Pride never got closer than 66-62 with a half-minute showing on the clock as it missed three shots in the final 20 seconds, including two three-pointers to try to cut the lead to one.

Maynor and Jenkins entered the contest as the conference’s top two scorers and served as their offense’s focal points. Fresh off a career-high 33 point-effort in a last-second win over UNC Wilmington, Jenkins notched his 10th 20-point game of the season, adding six rebounds and three assists.

VCU came out strong in the second half after the Pride led 36-29 at the break. Sophomore forward Larry Sanders scored back-to-back baskets in the paint, pulling the Rams to within 42-39 with 13:13 left. Jenkins responded with a three-pointer right in front of the Pride bench and Tony Dennison added a driving reverse lay-in on the next possession to build up the lead.

Maynor scored the game’s next seven points, hitting a top-of-the-key three-point near NBA range to tie it and followed a Pride turnover by drilling a jump shot to give VCU a 48-46 lead with 10:54 remaining, marking the first time the Rams led since the second minute of the contest.

Playing man defense, Jenkins held Maynor scoreless through the first 10 minutes before the country’s 11th-leading scorer heated up. Maynor was off from the floor in the first half (2-8) yet converted all seven of his free throws to tally 12 points at the break.

Jenkins’ jumper built a 28-16 lead with 5:20 left in the first half, Hofstra’s largest of the game. VCU posted a modest 5-0 run to close the gap before Hofstra started driving to the lane, converting on its last five foul shots. Maynor cut into the deficit before the buzzer, drawing a foul on junior guard Cornelius Vines (Syracuse, NY) from beyond the three-point arc. Maynor hit all three of his free throws with 2.2 seconds left, though the Pride still entered the break with a 36-29 edge.

Maynor has a chance to be selected in this year’s NBA draft. That would follow in the career path of former Pride great Craig “Speedy” Claxton, who had his No. 10 retired in a pregame ceremony. Claxton, currently with the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, was drafted by Philadelphia in the first round of the 2000 draft after a stellar career for Hofstra.

Now 30 years old, the Hempstead native led his hometown school to the NCAA Tournament in 2000 and still holds the team record for career assists (660), steals (288) and ranks sixth all-time in points (2,015).

Claxton, who won a championship ring with the Spurs in 2002-03, is the third Hofstra player to have his jersey retired this season. Claxton (1996-2000) joined Bill Thieben (1953-56) and Steve Nisenson (1962-65) in being honored with a banner hanging from the Mack Sports Complex’s rafters. Rich Laurel (1973-77) will join the list later this year.

Hofstra will be off the next two days before traveling to Virginia to take on another challenging conference opponent in George Mason Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

With the win, the Pride improves to 12-7 overall and levels its Colonial Athletic Association record at 4-4. William & Mary falls to

6-12 overall and 1-7 in league play with the loss.

Junior guard Tony Dennison (Long Island City, NY) scored eight straight points in the second half, and junior guard Cornelius Vines (Syracuse,

NY) scored all of his 15 points in the final 20 minutes to lead the Pride. Vines hit four three-pointers in the second half and Dennison scored all but one of his 10 points in the period. Sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, NY) was the third Pride player to score in double figures, adding 11 points and five assists. Junior guard David Schneider led William and Mary with 18 points.

Vines’ three-pointer with 10:40 left ignited a 13-0 run and erased William and Mary’s final lead 7:33 into the last half. Moments later, Dennison capitalized on the Pride’s offensive rebounding prowess, hitting a key shot from beyond the arc after three Hofstra offensive rebounds to make it 34-29 at the 9:01 mark.

Dennison then continued his run of eight straight points. After hitting back-to-back threes, Dennison added a jumper and then picked up an assist on a fast break following a defensive stop. Dennison stole the ball at one end, dribbled to the right side of the paint and fired a centering pass to a streaking Greg Washington (Centereach, NY), who punctuated the drive with a two-handed dunk that made it 41-29.

William and Mary cut that lead to four points at 41-37 with 5:35 left behind two three-pointers from Schneider, before Vines provided key insurance points. Vines stole a Steven Hess pass attempt near midcourt and converted the fast break while drawing the foul on Schneider. Vines added his third trey of the evening on the next possession, putting the Pride up 11 points with 3:39 left to secure the win.

Washington, a sophomore forward, energized the crowd almost seven minutes into the second half, racing down-court and leaping at the last second to swat away Schneider’s lay-in attempt from behind. Washington stole a pass shortly after the Tribe in-bounded, setting up Jenkins’

jumper and a 28-27 Pride lead. Jenkins took a hard fall with 9:30 left, needing help to walk off the court. He returned four minutes later, finishing 4-11 from the floor in 36 minutes.

Both schools failed to develop an offensive rhythm early, failing to crack the 30 percent mark from the field in a low-scoring first-half that saw the Tribe take a 17-15 lead into the break. Senior forward Darren Townes (New York, NY) gave the Pride a presence in the low post early, grabbing five offensive rebounds and two on the defensive glass through the first 20 minutes.

Hofstra’s defense held the Tribe to 2-14 shooting at the outset before an 8-0 run, put William and Mary up, 14-8, with 4:37 left. Alex Smith and Schneider hit the Tribe’s first three-pointers of the half during the run, as the Tribe held Hofstra scoreless for a span of 9:01.

Jenkins scored the next five points, capped by his running floater through the paint, and Washington’s drive to the basket resulted in an easy lay-in as the Pride responded with a 7-0 run. Quinn McDowell gave the Tribe some momentum heading into the break, taking Sean McCurdy’s swing pass and burying a three-pointer from the top key just before the buzzer to hand William and Mary a 17-15 halftime lead.

Schneider was the only William & Mary player in double figures.

Washington finished with seven blocked shots off the bench for Hofstra, setting a new career high. Hofstra held a 42-26 advantage on the boards, led by eight from Townes.

The Pride will next be in action when it travels to James Madison on Saturday for a 7 p.m. contest.