Tyler Thomas crosses 2,000-point mark for career in Hofstra's win over William & Mary

Tyler Thomas didn’t have his magic scoring touch, but he still hit some magic marks.

The 6-3 grad guard scored 13 points to help Hofstra beat William & Mary, 64-55, on Thursday night at Mack Sports Complex and claim its third straight win.

In doing so, he passed the 1,000-point mark in his two seasons with the Pride and passed the 2,000-point mark for a college basketball run that includes three seasons at Sacred Heart.

“I think it’s cool that it happened at home, in front of the home fans,” Thomas said. “And most importantly, we won.”

Here’s the breakdown:

At Hofstra: 1,003 points.

At Sacred Heart: 1,001 points.

Before a post-grad year at Williston Prep in Massachusetts, he scored 1,531 points for Amity Regional High in his native Connecticut.

“I think it’s just my work ethic,” said Thomas, one of eight active D-I players with 2,000 points. “I don’t shoot any shot that I haven’t shot before a thousand times in the gym.”

He’s averaging 21.3 points, but his aim was off this time. He shot 4-for-17 from the floor, including 1-for-12 on three-point tries.

“He’s a terrific scorer,” William & Mary coach Dane Fischer said. “He missed some shots tonight that he’s going to make on a pretty consistent basis. You don’t score 2,000 points playing Division I basketball without being a really good player.”

Thomas was part of a balanced attack. German Plotnikov scored 15 for the Pride, who shot 42.9%, including only 29.6% on threes. Darlinstone Dubar added 14 and shot 6-for-14.

Gabe Dorsey nailed eight threes and scored 26 for William & Mary (7-13, 2-5 CAA). But the Pride (11-9, 4-3) held the visitors from Virginia to 34.5% shooting and came up with 14 turnovers.

“I think the team’s trending in the right direction,” Thomas said, “especially after a defensive win like this.”

Hofstra led by four early in the second half before going on a 12-4 run, good for a 40-28 advantage. Thomas hit a three and capped the burst with a turnaround jumper from the right side. That gave him 2,000.

When he canned another jumper with 13:30 left, Hofstra had a 48-34 lead and Thomas had crossed 1,000 with the Pride.

The margin reached 16. William & Mary got as close as 62-55 with 12.7 seconds left.

“I think it was a tough night for us shooting the basketball,” Hofstra coach Speedy Claxton said. “I think we did a really good job on the defensive end tonight and that carried us to the win.”

After the Pride constructed a 19-6 lead, William & Mary responded with a 14-4 run, slicing it to 23-20. Dorsey accounted for all 14, including four threes. Hofstra led 28-22 at halftime and went on to claim a wire-to-wire win.

“I thought we did a really good job on their main guys, Dubar and Thomas, and made it tough for them all night,” Fischer said. “To their credit, I thought that they made it really hard for us to score.”

Stony Brook 72, Monmouth 65: The Seawolves trailed late in the first half before a 7-1 run sent them into the break with a 24-20 lead. Aaron Clarke had 18 points for Stony Brook, which improved to 10-10 overall and 3-4 in the CAA. Monmouth has the same record.