Hofstra reaches CAA Tournament final on Preston Edmead's banked three-pointer with three-tenths of a second left in overtime
Preston Edmead celebrates with teammates after he hit the winning shot as Hofstra beat Towson in the CAA semifinals on Monday. Credit: Hofstra/Joe Orovitz
Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton recently said it would be “easy” to win three games in three days.
This wasn’t easy.
But it was a win.
One out of two ain’t bad.
Third-seeded Hofstra outlasted seventh-seeded Towson, 68-65, in overtime in the second of two Coastal Athletic Association Tournament semifinal games Monday night at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C.
“Gutsy, gutsy win by my guys,” Claxton said. “They came out and fought start to finish.”
CAA Rookie of the Year Preston Edmead (22 points) banked in the winning three-pointer with three-tenths of a second left.
Towson tied the score at 65 on Jaquan Womack’s putback with 20 seconds left in overtime, but Edmead responded by sinking his three-pointer from the right wing.
“Coach said, ‘Get one last shot,’ ” said Edmead, who is from Deer Park. “I saw the time ticking down and I just shot it.”
The Pride (23-10) have won six in a row and are one win away from clinching a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
The last time Hofstra made the NCAA Tournament was 2000-01, when the Pride lost, 61-48, to UCLA in the first round.
Hofstra would have qualified for The Big Dance in the 2019-20 season, but the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament. The Pride finished that season with a 26-8 record and won the CAA Tournament.
Silas Sunday had 11 rebounds for Hofstra, which will meet fourth-seeded Monmouth in Tuesday’s championship game. The Hawks (19-14) topped ninth-seeded Campbell, 74-64, in the first semifinal game Monday. Kavion McClain led Monmouth with 19 points.
The Pride swept the regular-season series with the Hawks.
The third of three matchups with the Tigers (19-15) in the 2025-26 season essentially was a 45-minute instructional video on defensive basketball. Neither team shot 40% from the field; Hofstra shot 24-for-63 and Towson was 23-for-62.
Cruz Davis, the CAA Player of the Year, scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half before fouling out.
“[I have] a lot of trust,” Davis said when asked about the amount of faith he has in his teammates. “As soon as I went out of the game, Preston gave me a hug [and] he told me he got me.”
Tyler Tejada led Towson with 29 points.
