TAMPA — Hofstra waited 25 years for this, and man, did it show.
Hofstra didn’t want to let go, didn’t want to leave the stage it had craved for a quarter of a century.
But in the end, Alabama’s length, speed and athleticism caught up to Hofstra’s heart.
In the end, it was Tide 90, Pride 70 in Friday’s NCAA tournament first round on Friday at Benchmark International Arena.
The bloated final score was not close to indicative of the hard out Speedy Claxton’s No. 13 seed Hofstra proved to be for No. 4 Alabama, the SEC power.
Alabama was clinging to a five-point lead with six minutes to play.
The game simply got away from the Pride in the final minutes.
Alabama star guard and leading scorer Labaron Philon Jr., whom Hofstra contained for the better part of the first half, eventually became too much to handle.
He finished with a game-high 29 points and seemingly dropped a 3-pointer on Hofstra whenever the Tide was in need.
Alabama’s 6-foot-11 big man Aiden Sherrell scored 15 points with 15 rebounds.
Taylor Bol Bowen scored 15 off the bench for the Tide.
Hofstra was led by its freshman guard from Deer Park, Preston Edmead, who scored 24 points.
Cruz Davis, the Pride’s leading scorer all year, was held to 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting.
German Plotnikov scored 12, while Biggie Patterson scored 11.
Six years ago, COVID-19 robbed Hofstra of its NCAA Tournament glory under the bright lights, its “one shining moment.’’
This week, the Hofstra players soaked as much of it in as they could — until Alabama became too much to handle in the closing five minutes.
