Men’s Basketball Extends Winning Streak to Seven With 72–70 Triumph Over Hofstra

Wednesday, December 3

New York, N.Y.

7:00 P.M.

Columbia University

8-1,0-0Ivy League

Hofstra

5-4,0-0CAA

Hofstra

Columbia

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics / Josh Wang

Men’s Basketball Extends Winning Streak to Seven With 72–70 Triumph Over Hofstra

12/3/2025 10:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Postgame: Soulis & Coach Hovde Game Book Photo Gallery

The Lions hold off the Pride late; Franklin’s layup with 20 seconds left sealed the win

NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball won its seventh straight game in a nail-biter against Hofstra, 72-70, on Wednesday night from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.

With 20 seconds left, Miles Franklin hopped through the paint and laid in a basket to put the Lions up 72-69. Back on defense, Franklin got both hands on a Hofstra layup that would have made it a one-point game. Hofstra had its last chance after a foul on a loose ball sent the Pride to the line with under two seconds to go. German Plotnikov missed the second free throw, but Mason Ritter pulled down the rebound and time expired.

The Lions (8-1) are now 5-0 at home and secured their fifth wire-to-wire victory of the season. Ryan Soulis recorded a second straight double-double with a career-high 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Kenny Noland led the Lions with 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Franklin scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds to go with his clutch block to snap a Hofstra (5-4) three-game winning streak. Blair Thompson added 11.

Back-to-back Noland threes gave the Lions a 13-4 start, a nine-point lead that they would hover around for most of the first half. Columbia expanded its advantage to 31-20 at the 7:01 mark after Ritter muscled his way to three points the old-fashioned way. In the final six seconds of the half, Noland brought up the ball and banked in a buzzer-beating three to send the Lions to the locker room up 42-32.

A 7-0 Lions run in the second half expanded their lead to a game-high 16 with 15:07 to go. The Pride would chip away until a 9-0 Hofstra run brought the deficit to three with 8:29 to play. Noland snapped this run with a timely three-pointer to make it 60-54.

The Lions went on a three-minute scoring drought before Soulis broke it with a tough post fadeaway to make it 62-58 with 4:17 remaining. Franklin followed up with two threes to make it 68-61. Hofstra scored five straight points before Noland made free throws to make it a four-point game. Hofstra's Cruz Davis knocked down a three to make it a 70-69 game with 49 ticks left.

Columbia concludes a three-game homestand against UAlbany on Saturday, Dec. 6, at 5:30 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.

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