TOWSON, Md. - The Tigers didn't have an answer for Hofstra's inside game led by 6-9 forward Miklos Szabo who scored a career high 22 points on 11 of 14 shooting to lead the Pride to an 84-64 victory over Towson in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams Saturday afternoon.

"Hofstra was well prepared for us," said Tiger head coach Pat Kennedy. "The things that we wanted to try to do they countered and took us out of. Then it became a snowball effect. We did not play well individually or collectively."

Szabo was one of three Hofstra players to score in double figures. Junior guard Charles Jenkins, the CAA's Pre-Season Player of the Year and the league's leading scorer, added 21 points while freshman Halil Kanacevic came off the bench to score ten points.

Hofstra (5-3, 1-0), which has won four of its last five games, took control of the game midway through the first half. After the Tigers tied the game at 15-15 on a three-point basket by David Brewster with 9:54 left, the Pride scored 16 of the next 20 points to grab a 31-19 lead with 3:33 left in the first half. Jenkins scored 10 points in the first half as Hofstra went to halftime with a 38-27 lead.

Early in the second half, Josh Thornton nailed a three-point basket to pull the Tigers to within 47-39 with 17:13 left in the game. However, the Pride responded with a 20-8 spurt and assumed a 67-47 lead with 10:16 remaining in the contest.

In the final ten minutes, Hofstra led by as many as 26 points when Cornelius Vines connected on a three-point basket with 5:55 left in the game.

After connecting on only 38.2 per cent of its field goal attempts in the first half, Hofstra made 20 of 35 shots after intermission.

Calvin Lee led the Tigers with 14 points and seven rebounds while Thornton added 11 points. Brewster scored ten points off the bench.

Hofstra held Towson to 38.6 per cent shooting from the floor.

The Tigers, now 2-4 on the year and 0-1 in the CAA, are off until next Saturday when they host George Washington in the Towson Center.

#