Washington, D.C. – The 2023-24 season of the Hofstra men's basketball team came to an end in the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C., as the third-seed Pride were defeated 63-59 by seven-seed Stony Brook in the semifinals of the CAA Championship.
 
The Pride concludes its season with a record of 20-13, while Stony Brook ups its record to 20-14 and advances to face top-seed Charleston in the CAA Championship Game on Tuesday.
 
Tyler Thomas was exceptional for the Pride against the Seawolves, scoring 32 points and hitting six three-pointers, giving him the CAA single-season record for made threes in a season with 125 to break the previous mark of 122 set by James Madison's Darren McLinton during the 1995-96 season. Thomas also finished with nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals. Jaquan Carlos posted 13 points for the Pride and also assisted on six Hofstra buckets.
 
The lead changed three times inside the first five minutes of the opening half and the score was tied another two times before Stony Brook rattled off a 5-2 run to lead by three at the 10:04 mark. A three from Thomas evened the score, and the Pride took the lead on a fast break jumper from Carlos after a Bryce Washington steal. Carlos hit a free throw to complete the three point play and give the Pride the three-point advantage.
 
Hofstra countered a Seawolves layup with another Thomas bucket from beyond the arc to up the lead to four points, but six straight Stony Brook points gave the lower-seeded squad a two-point lead with 6:25 to go before the break. After a Jacco Fritz free throw brought Hofstra to within one, Stony Brook's Tyler Stephenson-Moore hit back-to-back threes to give the Seawolves a 30-23 lead with just over five minutes remaining. Two-pointers by Fritz and Thomas on back-to-back Hofstra possessions cut the lead to three, and a three from Washington following a jumper by Aaron Clarke put Hofstra trailing by two at halftime.
 
Two free throws by Thomas evened the score at 32-all before a 5-2 run put Stony Brook ahead by three. The Pride pulled to within one of the Seawolves multiple times before tying the game on a Thomas three – setting a new mark for threes in a season in conference history – at 12:13. Darlinstone Dubar knocked down a three to give Hofstra its first lead of the game since midway through the first half. Stony Brook tied it up with a three on the next possession, but a Thomas layup put Hofstra back ahead by two with 10:31 remaining.
 
After a scoring slump lasting nearly four minutes for both sides, Stony Brook tied the score at 46-46 with a pair of free throws at 6:51, but a Silas Sunday free throw and a close jumper by Carlos put the score at 49-46 in favor of Hofstra with 5:40 to go. A three by Thomas gave Hofstra a three-point lead after Stony Brook cut it to one, but Stephenson-Moore responded with a three-pointer of his own. The tying three sparked a run of 13 unanswered points lasting over four minutes to lead by 10 with under a minute to go. Remarkably, the Pride made it a one-possession game with seven straight points from Thomas to trail by three with six seconds to go, but Keenan Fitzmorris sunk the second of two free throws to put the Seawolves ahead by four to seal the upset.
 
Stephenson-Moore led the Seawolves with 23 points, while Chris Maidoh scored 13 points and Clarke posted 12.
 
NOTES
- Hofstra is 28-7 all-time against Stony Brook.