ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's basketball team struggled to find a rhythm from deep in a 79-61 setback to CAA leading Hofstra on Saturday, Jan. 10, at Alumni Gym.
 
Elon (10-7, 2-2 CAA) went just 4-of-21 from beyond the arc, while Hofstra (13-4, 4-0 CAA) nailed 14 triples – a season-high for an Elon opponent. The Phoenix came into the game the conference's leader in three-point field goal percentage defense, but could not find an answer for a hot-handed Pride team.
 
"Our effort was really good in the second half, but Hofstra is a good team and it's hard to come back against a good team, particularly when they shoot the ball as well as they did," said Elon head coach Matt Matheny. "We've been making some mistakes defensively in a few of our games, but we made up for it because we shot the ball well. Tonight we didn't shoot it well, and the mistakes we made defensively were exposed."
 
The Pride put four players in double figures, led by Ameen Tanksley's game-high 25 points. As a team, Hofstra shot 40 percent from the floor, including its 14-of-32 clip from deep.
 
Elon struggled from the floor in the first 20 minutes, hitting just 1-of-11 from three and 31 percent overall to trail the Pride, 39-25, at intermission. The 16-point deficit marked Elon's largest of the year since a 19-point margin at Mizzou earlier this season.
 
The Phoenix managed to cut the Pride's lead down to seven on a Ryan Winters jumper with 10:55 to play, but Hofstra responded quickly over the next three minutes with an 11-0 run to take a 64-46 advantage with 7:45 left. The Pride kept its foot on the gas from that point forward, leading by as many as 19 points to hold on for the win.
 
Tony Sabato scored a team-high 12 points, while Winters finished with 10 for the maroon and gold. The duo helped the Phoenix outscore Hofstra in the paint, 28-16.
 
Elon wraps up a three-game home stand on Wednesday night, Jan. 14, against College of Charleston at 7 p.m.