Hofstra falls to Virginia Commonwealth

Hofstra couldn't overcome a poor-shooting second half in a 61-49 loss to Virginia Commonwealth in Colonial Athletic Association play Monday night in Richmond, Va.

Hoping to keep the momentum going after Saturday's 71-69 win at James Madison, the Pride cut into a 10-point deficit to move within 35-32 at the half. But Hofstra shot 4-for-20 and was outscored 26-17 after halftime. The Pride had more free throws (nine) than field goals made in the half.

"In the first half, we were right there," said Hofstra coach Mo Cassara, whose squad shot 49 percent from the field before halftime. "We just ran out of gas a little bit and their pressure wore us down."

Mike Moore scored 17 points and Nathaniel Lester had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Pride (7-14, 1-8).

Bradford Burgess had 14 points and eight rebounds and Troy Daniels added 12 points for VCU (16-5, 7-2).

Lester hit a free throw 31 seconds into the second half to cut VCU's lead to 35-33. But Darius Theus scored eight of his 10 points during a 20-10 run that put VCU up 55-43 with 6:57 left in the game.

"Their half-court pressure didn't allow us to execute on offense," Cassara said. "They cover so much ground. I give a lot of credit to VCU."