Midway through the first half of yesterday’s CAA battle, it looked as if host Hofstra, not Towson, was the team with a 3-9 conference record. Towson surged ahead early, building a double-digit lead in the first half yesterday, but was unable to hold the lead and Hofstra escaped with a 71-68 victory.

“Here’s a Towson team with three wins in the league and they can beat anybody,” Hofstra coach Tom Pecora said. “They shoot the ball well and are a lot better than their record shows.”

Hofstra (16-9, 7-6, CAA) avoided its first three-game losing streak of the season with big performances from sophomore guards Nathaniel Lester and Charles Jenkins.

Trailing by 12 with five minutes to go in the first half, Jenkins scored 14 points, including 12 straight for the Pride who cut the deficit to four points at halftime. He finished the game with a game-high 24 points, while Lester had a career-high 21.

“We can look great for five minutes and we can look bad for five minutes,” Pecora said. “They shot 50 percent in the first half and we said in the second half we needed to play better defensively and we did.”

In the second half, Hofstra held Towson to 11 of 27 field goals, and made several defensive stops that allowed them to get back in thegame.

“We didn’t allow them any looks in the second half, except one big three.” Pecora said.

That big three was by Josh Thornton who tied the game at 61 with four minutes to go in the game. He scored 13 points, including 4-7 from beyond the arc. Towson (8-17, 3-10 CAA) was led by Junior Hairston who had 23 points.

With the game tied at 68 and just 30 seconds left in the game, Hofstra forward Greg Washington hit an open jumper that gave the Pride the lead for good. Towson missed a last-second shot, and Hofstra added a free throw to secure the 71-68 win.

“It was a big time shot at the end of the game.” Pecora said.

david.satriano@nypost.com

Hofstra 71 Towson 68