BOSTON – After seeing Hofstra (8-8, 1-2) erase a 19-point halftime deficit with 10 minutes to play, the Northeastern men's basketball team (6-10, 1-2) regrouped to hit six of its final eight shots to edge the Pride on Thursday night at Matthews Arena, 71-68.
 
It was a tale of two halves as the Huskies shot 65% in the first half to open up a big lead before Hofstra answered with a 57% showing in the second, led by 26 second half points from Tyler Thomas. The game saw four ties and six lead changes over the final 10 minutes of regulation before a three-pointer from Luka Sakota gave the hosts the lead for good.
 
Sakota finished with 19 points in his return to the lineup after missing two games with an injury, leading three Huskies in double figures. He was joined by Joe Pridgen (12 points) and 10 from Chris Doherty as Northeastern picked up its first victory over the Pride since 2021. The Huskies finished the night 26-of-55 overall and outrebounded Hofstra 35-20.
 
Thomas, meanwhile, went 11-of-23 to finish with 32 on the night for a Hofstra squad that shot 54% for the game. He was joined in double figures by Jaquan Carlos (13 points, five steals) and Darlinstone Dubar (10 points, six rebounds).
 
Northeastern came out firing in the first half, shooting 65% as a team (40% from three) and outrebounding the Pride 19-7, leading by as many as 21 before heading into the locker room up 42-23.
 
Sakota had 10 points in the first six minutes of the game as the Huskies used a 15-5 run to go up by eight early. Sakota finished the half with 12 points, and was joined by Pridgen with 10, all of which came in the final eight minutes of the half.
 
The hot shooting continued as the half wore on, with Northeastern going on a 17-0 run over early five minutes to go up big, with five different scorers contributing along the way.
 
Hofstra, meanwhile, shot 36% overall and 29% from deep, led by nine points from Carlos.
 
The Pride wasted no time in storming back to get themselves back in the game, opening the second half 11-of-15 from the floor to tie the game at 51 with 10:04 to go, with 11 points coming from Thomas and holding Northeastern to 0-of-9 from the field in that span.
 
It was back and forth from there, with neither team leading by more than four points the rest of the way to set up the exciting finish.
 
The Huskies will be back in action on Saturday when Northeastern hosts Towson. Tip-off from Matthews Arena is set for 12 p.m. on NESN and FloHoops