Preston Edmead scored a season-high 26 points, leading Hofstra to a 75-69 CAA tournament championship victory over Monmouth that ended a 25-year NCAA tournament drought. The victory secured Hofstra's first NCAA bid since 2001, marking the first under head coach Speedy Claxton, a former Hofstra standout who played for the program from 1996-2000. Claxton, now in his second season, has guided the Pride to their fifth overall NCAA tournament appearance.

Edmead's 26 points, including a clutch 3-pointer with 3:26 remaining, were pivotal, though Monmouth mounted a late charge before Hofstra's German Plotnikov hit a jumper and secured the bid with free throws down the stretch. Cruz Davis and Plotnikov added 10 and 12 points respectively for Hofstra (24-10), while Kavion McClain led Monmouth (19-15) with 19 points. The win provides Hofstra with an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, a significant milestone for a program that hadn't reached the field since Jay Wright coached the team to its last appearance in 2001.