Box Score HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – Hofstra shot lights out from long range, and the result was an 88-74 victory over the Norfolk State men's basketball team on Tuesday night in a non-conference matchup at the Mack Sports Complex.
 
The Pride connected on 14-of-25 from 3-point land for the night, which included a 5-of-5 effort by Ameen Tanksley. He finished with 30 points while shooting 9-of-9 overall as Hofstra improved to 5-2.
 
The loss spoiled a career night from Spartan junior RaShid Gaston, who posted a career-best 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting. He also had his third straight double-double with 10 rebounds. He helped Norfolk State finish with a 32-14 advantage in points in the paint.
 
NSU (4-4) shot well from long range as well, hitting 10-of-23. Hofstra, though, benefitted from a large discrepancy in foul shots. The Pride hit 26-of-37 from the charity stripe, compared to 6-of-10 for the Spartans. Five different NSU players finished with four fouls, and as a team Norfolk State had nearly twice as many as Hofstra (27-14).
 
Junior Jeff Short and senior Malik Thomas joined Gaston in double figures with 16 and 13, respectively.
 
Tanksley had 11 of the team's first 16 points of the second half to give the Pride their first double-digit lead of the contest, 59-49, with 13:20 to go. Short later drained a 3-pointer, and Gaston had an easy layup, both times getting the Spartans to within six midway through the second stanza.
 
Freshman Malik Gray sank a layup and then a 3-pointer from the right wing to get NSU to within two, 66-64, with 8:16 left. Hofstra, though, used a 14-3 run over the next four minutes to jump ahead by 13. The Pride led by double digits the rest of the way.
 
Tanksley had 10 points early on to stake Hofstra to a 14-5 lead to start the game. Freshman Devonte Banner cut the deficit to four at 16-12 when he drained a 3-pointer with the shot clock about to expire. He then found Thomas for a trey in transition, and a layup by Gaston at the 11:36 mark put the Spartans ahead by one.
 
Short connected on a 3-pointer from the left corner, and Gaston made 1-of-2 from the line to cap a 15-1 run that covered just a little more than three minutes. That put the Spartans up 24-17 with 9:21 to go before the half, but the Pride responded with a five-minute, 19-4 run to build their lead to eight.
 
Hofstra pushed its advantage to as much as nine with three and a half minutes left, but Gaston scored seven points and Thomas drained a 3-pointer as the Spartans outscored the Pride 10-4 to close out the half.
 
Gaston had 14 points at the break, while Tanksley had 17 thanks to a 6-of-6 shooting effort.
 
NSU connected on 29-of-63 (46.0 percent) overall for the game, with assists on 22 of those baskets. It marked the most in a game since the Spartans had 25 helpers on Nov. 26, 2013 against Stillman.
 
Hofstra shot 24-of-46 (52.2 percent) overall for the game. Juan'ya Green added 18 points, eight assists and four steals, and Brian Bernardi totaled 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting. The Pride committed just eight turnovers and finished with a 21-9 edge in points off turnovers.
 
NSU will jump into MEAC play for its first two conference games of the year. Up first is Morgan State at home on Saturday at 6 p.m.