Saturday, February 28th, 4:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex (5,045) -- Hempstead, New York. Television: MSG. Home Record: UNCW 5-9, Hofstra 9-3. Away Record: UNCW 1-13, Hofstra 8-6. Neutral Record: UNCW 1-1, Hofstra 2-1. Conference Record: UNCW 3-14, Hofstra 10-7. Series Record: UNC Wilmington leads, 12-5.

GAME NOTES: The UNC Wilmington Seahawks, settled into last place in the Colonial Athletic Association standings heading into the final weekend of the regular season, try to end the campaign on a positive note as they square off against the Hofstra Pride this afternoon in Hempstead, New York. On Wednesday night, UNCW came close in a 53-52 loss to George Mason, marking the fifth loss in the last six games for the program as it fell to a miserable 3-14 in league action. As for the Pride, currently tied with Drexel for fifth place in the CAA at 10-7, they too were in action three nights ago, but in their case they were completely dominated by Georgia State in a 76-55 final. The defeat snapped what had been a five-game win streak for the group. Hofstra won the first meeting of the season between these two teams by a narrow 80-78 score four weeks ago on the road at Trask Coliseum, as Arminas Urbutis put the ball up for the winning score at the buzzer. With that decision, the all-time series now stands at 12-5 in favor of the Seahawks.

Down by nine points with under four minutes to play, the Seahawks refused to give up easily and actually took a one-point lead in the final minute on a three-pointer by Montez Downey, but then allowed George Mason's John Vaughan to convert a reverse layup with only four seconds to play in the one-point loss. Downey finished with 17 points, hitting 5-of-8 beyond the arc, while Chad Tomko's 17 points stemmed from his 6-of-17 effort from the field. Tomko, although shooting just 38.9 percent from the floor so far this season, is first on the team with his 15.8 ppg. Just as important, Tomko is also the top passer for the unit with his 135 assists and also has a staggering 65 steals, more than one-third of the team's total. Unfortunately, posting 71.1 ppg has not been enough for the Seahawks this season as they surrender a staggering 83.5 ppg to rank among the worst at the Division I level in scoring defense.

Georgia State knocked down 61.5 percent from the field in the first half, including 7-of-11 behind the first half, en route to a sizeable lead at the break and a 21-point victory versus Hofstra on Wednesday night. Charles Jenkins was the only Pride player to score in double figures with his 19 points, the other four starters combining to hit a mere 6-of-15 shots from the floor. One of the top scorers in the CAA this season, Jenkins has started all 29 games for Hofstra en route to his 18.6 ppg. However, his points have not come without problems because he is shooting just 39 percent from the floor and 29.5 percent behind the three-point line. Then again, Jenkins is not the only player having trouble finding the range because the team as a whole is shooting only 38.8 percent from the field and 30.9 percent out on the perimeter and that means the Pride is trailing the opposition in the scoring department by 0.5 ppg.

Clearly the Pride have much to gain with a strong outing this afternoon, so expect the home team to do all it can to take care of UNCW yet again.

Predicted Outcome

Hofstra 72, UNC Wilmington 63