College Basketball

Mitola's shot gives Colonials 82-80 win over Hofstra in NIT

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 12:07 a.m. ET

foxsports

WASHINGTON (AP) Alex Mitola's 12-foot runner with four seconds remaining gave George Washington an 82-80 win over Hofstra in a first-round NIT game on Wednesday night.

The Colonials will play at Monmouth, a No. 1 seed, on Monday.

Mitola's 3-pointer, his first points after missing seven shots, gave George Washington an 80-71 lead with 2:38 to go. Hofstra rallied to knot the game at 80 - the first tie since it was 31-all in the first half - on Juan'ya Green's drive with 13 seconds left. Mitola then made his game-winner before a desperation shot by Hofstra.

Tyler Cavanaugh scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Colonials. Patricio Garino added 18 points, Kevin Larsen 16 and Yuta Watanabe 15.

Green had 26 points and 10 assists and Rokas Gustys 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Pride (24-10). Denton Koon added 19 points.

With its 24th victory, George Washington (24-10), which lost to eventual conference tournament Saint Joseph's in the quarterfinals, tied for second-most wins in school history.

Hofstra tied UNC Wilmington for the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title but lost to the Seahawks in overtime in the conference tournament title game.