The Birds found themselves down 16 early in the second half, 57-41. ISU chipped away at the lead and cut the deficit to 9, 67-58, with 6:53 remaining. Alexander cut the lead to 5, 69-64 as he scored his 18th point of the game. Hofstra hit 2 free throws of 4 shots to build the lead to 7. ISU cut the deficit to 4 on a Randy Rice 3 pointer, and then quickly followed with a Boo Bojang tip in got ISU within 2, 74-72 with 1 minute remaining. Ford scored to tie the game with 18 seconds left in regulation. Ford forced a turnover on the inbound play with 12 seconds left to give ISU a shot to win but it came up short. 

Ford hit 2 free throws to give ISU an early lead. Hofstra scored the next 4 to take a 78-76 lead. A Rice free throw and a lay-up by Alexander helped ISU regain the lead 79-78 with 2:06 remaining. A Bojang free throw and a basket by Hofstra tie the game at 80 with a minute and half to go. Hofstra hit 2 free throws with 39.3 seconds left in the game to give them the win.