Jenkins leads Hofstra over Georgia State

With the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament just around the corner, Hofstra needed to continue its winning ways coming off a victory over Northeastern last Saturday.

The Pride did just that last night with a 79-68 win over host Georgia State in Atlanta.

With about 30 NBA scouts in attendance, Charles Jenkins led a balanced Hofstra offense with 28 points on 10-for-15 shooting, five rebounds and four steals.

Greg Washington had 13 points and five blocked shots, Mike Moore had 12 points and Brad Kelleher added 10 points and eight assists.

Jihad Ali led Georgia State with 19 points and Javonte Maynor added 12.

It was an important win for fourth-place Hofstra (16-9, 10-4), which increased its lead to two games over fifth-place Drexel (16-8, 8-6), a 68-54 loser to James Madison.

"Any win on the road is a good win," Hofstra coach Mo Cassara said. "To have that combination of a road win and a two-game lead in fourth place is good for us." The top four seeds in the CAA Tournament get first-round byes.

Hofstra never trailed after going up 3-2 and bolted to a 38-26 halftime lead.

The Pride broke it open in the second half as Jenkins scored 10 points during an 18-12 run that gave Hofstra a 56-38 lead with 14:30 to go.

Georgia State cut the lead to 69-63 on a layup by Eric Bruckner with 4:30 left, but Hofstra's David Imes sparked a 5-1 run with two free throws that made it 74-64.