PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Norman Richardson led four players in double figures with 18 points as Hofstra defeated Drexel 78-70 Sunday.

The Pride finish as the America East regular season champions and the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. Hofstra also owns the nation's longest current winning streak with 15 consecutive victories.

Drexel lost its third straight game and its first home conference game of the season. The Dragons are the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament.

Rick Apodaca had 17 points for Hofstra. Jason Hernandez and Roberto Gittens also reached double figures for the Pride scoring 15 and 14, respectively.

Hofstra never trailed in the contest. The Dragons trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half, but trimmed the lead to three on a 3-pointer by Stephen Starks with 8:31 remaining.

Starks, the America East's leading scorer, was held to eight points on 3-of-13 shooting.

Joe Linderman scored a career-high 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting to lead the Dragons.

Ashley Howard hit a 3-point shot for Drexel to cut the lead to five with 33 seconds remaining. However, Richardson hit three free throws down the stretch to put the game out of reach.