Junior forward Tyler Cavanaugh had 20 points and 11 rebounds in George Washington's dramatic 82-80 victory over Hofstra on Wednesday in the opening round of the NIT at the Charles E. Smith Center in Washington.

The Pride, who trailed by 12 points with 8 1/2 minutes left, stormed back to tie the game on a layup by senior guard Juan'ya Green with 15 seconds remaining. However, the Colonials won it on a jumper by senior guard Alex Mitola with four seconds remaining.

Senior guard Patricio Garino scored 18 points for fourth-seeded George Washington (24-10), which will play top-seeded Monmouth in the second round. Senior forward Kevin Larsen had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Green had 26 points and 10 assists for fifth-seeded Hofstra (24-10). Senior forward Denton Koon had 19 points. Sophomore forward Rokas Gustys had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The game was tied late in the first half before sophomore forward Yuta Watanabe made a 3-pointer to spark a 13-1 run for the Colonials, who carried a 49-38 lead into the break.

Hofstra cut the deficit to four on a couple of occasions early in the second period, but George Washington re-established a double-digit lead and went up 70-58 on a dunk by Watanabe.