Too much Pride ends Tribe’s year

Hofstra jumps out to huge early lead

WASHINGTON — The nightmare scenario quickly unfolded for William & Mary on Sunday, and the Tribe had no hope of upsetting top-seeded Hofstra in a Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinal at the Sports & Entertainment Arena.

The eighth-seeded Tribe (13-20), a 15-point underdog according to one sportsbook, fell behind by double digits in the first four minutes and went on to finish its season with a 94-46 loss to the powerful Pride (24-8), which has won 11 consecutive games.

Name a statistic, and it seemed like Hofstra dominated it: fieldgoal shooting (59.4% to 30%), 3-point shooting (61.9% to 24%) and rebounding (44-25), for example.

After Anders Nelson’s layup 1:40 into the game cut Hofstra’s lead to 5-2, Aaron Estrada’s layup began a 13-0 Pride run. It was 18-2, and the confidence and momentum W&M had generated from Saturday’s victory over Elon were gone.

Hofstra led 51-14 at halftime and went on a 20-2 second-half run, expanding the margin to 86-35.

Estrada had 22 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals, making 9 of 13 field-goal tries. Tyler Thomas also had 22 points, missing just twice on 11 attempts, and he had four of the Pride’s 13 3-point baskets.

Jaquan Carlos contributed 15 points for Hofstra, which will face the Drexel-UNC Wilmington winner at 6 p.m. today in a semifinal.

Nelson led the Tribe with 15 points, hitting all three of his 3-point tries, but his teammates were just 3 of 22 from long range. Ben Wight and Chris Mullins had nine points apiece, and Mullins had six rebounds and three steals.