Top-seeded Hofstra rolls to 48-point win in CAA quarterfinal

WASHINGTON — Hofstra left little to chance in its CAA Tournament quarterfinal matchup against William & Mary on Sunday.

Conference Player of the Year Aaron Estrada and Tyler Thomas each had 22 points as the top-seeded Pride routed No. 8 William & Mary, 94-46, at the Entertainment & Sports Arena for their 12th straight win.

Hofstra posted the largest margin of victory in tournament history and advanced to Monday night’s semifinal against UNC Wilmington.

“Really good job by our guys,” coach Speedy Claxton said. “I thought we came out with the right mindset and we put them away right from the start. That’s what we wanted to do. Get off to a good start and keep it rolling.”

Hofstra (24-8) never trailed, led 51-14 at intermission and increased the margin deep into the second half.

Jaquan Carlos added 15 points, Estrada had 10 rebounds and Thomas shot 9-for-11. Thomas (4-for-5), Estrada (3-for-4) and Carlos (3-for-6) shot a combined 10-for-15 on three-pointers.

The Pride shot 59.4% from the field (38-for-64) and held William & Mary to 30% (18-for-60). Hofstra owned a 44-25 advantage in rebounds.

“We tried to throw a few things at them defensively. They just seemed to have an answer for whatever we did,” William & Mary coach Dane Fischer said. “And what’s probably most impressive was the way they defended. We just couldn’t get into a rhythm, and a lot of that had to do with the way they played.”

William & Mary (13-20), which hit 14 three-pointers in a 73-51 over No. 9 Elon on Saturday, was led by Anders Nelson with 15 points.

Hofstra hadn’t played since Feb. 25 but showed no rust. One year after being upset in the quarterfinal round by No. 6 Charleston as a No. 3 seed, Hofstra shot 6-for-8 to start the game, and Carlos’ corner three-pointer made it 14-2 after only 4:07.

Carlos’ jumper made it 20-4 as the Pride held William & Mary to 2-for-9 shooting over the first eight minutes.

Nelson Boachie-Yiadom’s layup pushed the lead to 31-6 as William & Mary went more than eight minutes without a field goal.

“We had a great offensive game, but I think we were getting a lot of stops,” Carlos said. “That sent a message that we can win games by defense.”

Estrada’s corner three made it 42-10 and his jumper in the paint gave the Pride a 51-14 lead, the largest halftime margin in the history of the tournament.

“Honestly, everything,” Claxton said when asked what was working offensively in the first half. “They were making shots at an extremely high clip. Whoever we went to, they scored the basketball . . . Everybody who stepped on the court really played well today.”

Hofstra shot 22-for-34 (65%) from the field in the first half, held William & Mary to 6-for-27 shooting (22%), including 0-for-9 from beyond the arc, and allowed no second-chance points.

Thomas’ jumper made it 59-19 early in the second half and Hofstra kept rolling.

“Don’t play the scoreboard,” Claxton said. “It’s about us and continue to do the right things, offensively and defensively. That was the biggest thing.”

With the Pride ahead 71-33, Claxton began pulling his starters with 12:18 left. Estrada departed after hitting a three that made it 79-35 with 8:28 left.

“We definitely wanted to put them away and get these guys some rest so they’re not out there for 37, 38 minutes because we have to play three games in three days, which is going to be hard,” Claxton said. “So it’s good to start off like this.”