Box Score | Infographic

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – A second-half surge led by T.J. Williams and Alex Murphy wasn't enough as the Northeastern men's basketball team fell Saturday afternoon to Hofstra on the road, 78-73.
 
T.J. Williams paced the Huskies with 25 points, his sixth 25-point effort of the season, and in doing so moved into 21^st place on the Northeastern all-time scoring chart past Jon Lee (2009-13, 1,161), Jack Malvey (1961-64, 1,170) and Chip Rucker (1977-81, 1,172). Williams currently has 1,173 career points in the red and black.
 
Williams tied his season high with four threes on the night and tied his career high with nine made baskets.
 
Also with double-digit games were Alex Murphy who finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists while Devon Begley had 16 points, three rebounds and three steals on the night. Fifteen of Murphy's 18 points came in the second half.
 
Hofstra was led by Justin Wright-Foreman who finished with a career-high tying 30 points adding six rebounds as well while Brian Bernardi had 16 points.
 
Northeastern got out to a fast 9-2 lead as four different Huskies were a part of the first four baskets, but Hofstra battled back and made it a 17-17 ball game with 11:28 to go in the first stanza.
 
Hofstra turned a 19-24 deficit into a 33-26 lead using an 11-0 run which spanned a 3:10 period, holding the Huskies to 0-for-4 shooting from the field and take a seven-point lead, eventually extending it to nine points before the half.
 
A last second jumper in the paint by Devon Begley was deemed no good as time was winding down in the half as Hofstra hung on for the 41-32 halftime lead.
 
In the second half, Williams netted 11 of Northeastern's first 12 points in the period via three 3-pointers followed by six-straight points by Murphy, though the Pride were able to gain as much as a 15-point lead with 7:49 left in the frame, before the Huskies turned on the jets.
 
Back-to-back-to-back layups by Williams, Murphy and Begley forced Hofstra head coach Joe Mihalich to call a timeout as Northeastern made it a nine-point game, 65-56 with six minutes left.
 
The Pride got a point back on a free throw, but Northeastern went on to cut the lead to just four holding Hofstra without a field goal from the 11:28 mark until the 3:17 mark of the second half. During that time Hofstra put four points on the board via free throws.
 
Northeastern was unrelenting. Hofstra made it a seven-point game with 2:23 to go, but two treys by Shawn Occeus turned it into a one possession ball game, 73-71 with 47 seconds left.
 
Hofstra's Deron Powers wound down the clock and then delivered laying in a basket and drawing an and-one to ice the ballgame.
 
The Huskies are back home next week for a pair of conference games beginning Thursday night against Elon at 7 p.m. at Matthews Arena. The weekend will round out with a Saturday night meeting with Towson beginning at 7 p.m.