HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. - The George Mason men's basketball team led by double digits in the first half, but the Hofstra Pride pieced together a 14-0 run to pull away from the Patriots en route to a 87-74 Colonial Athletic Association victory on Wednesday night at the Mack Sports Complex.

Mason falls to 10-4 and 2-1 in conference play while the Pride improved to 3-0 in CAA play and 9-5 overall.  The Patriots saw four players reach double digits in scoring, led by a career high-tying 22 points from junior Ryan Pearson, who also matched the game high with eight rebounds. Five Pride players were in double figures, led by 32 from Charles Jenkins.

Hofstra's Greg Washington scored the first four points before six straight gave Mason their first lead of the game at the 17:34 mark on a basket by Pearson. That was part of an 11-2 run which put the Patriots ahead, 11-6. The Patriots offense added another impressive run on top of that to push the margin to double digits at 20-10 just over eight minutes into the contest.

It would be the largest lead of the first half, as the Pride chipped away at the deficit until Moore's 3-pointer at the 5:08 mark tied the score at 30. Over the next three-and-a-half minutes, each team managed just one 3-point field goal until Nwaukomi hit a free throw to make it 34-33 in favor of the Pride. The teams traded baskets until Kelleher's buzzer-beating 3-pointer was on target, giving the home team a 39-35 halftime lead.

Mason, which shot better than 53 percent from the field in the opening half, was led by eight points from Pearson while Kelleher and Jenkins each had nine to pace the Pride. Despite a 22-11 rebounding advantage for the Patriots, Mason committed eight turnovers which led to 10 Hofstra points in the first half.

An 8-0 run out of the locker room spanning three minutes quickly returned the lead to the Patriots, but an 14-0 run by the Pride put them ahead 53-43 with just under 12  minutes remaining in the contest. The deficit remained in double digits for the remainder of the game, as the 10-point margin would prove to be the closest the Patriots could get.

The Patriots continue their CAA road trip with a 2 p.m. battle at rival Old Dominion on Saturday afternoon in a game that will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet.