Men’s basketball defeated the Siena Saints 93-89 in three overtime periods on Sunday afternoon. The game featured 18 lead-changes and 18 ties. The victory came after a 78-60 loss to the Canisius Golden Griffs on Friday night.
“We were fortunate to get just enough stops and (senior guard) Austin [Tilghman] made his free throws down the stretch to be able to get out of here with a victory,” Head Coach King Rice said.
“I was just trying to tell these guys to get one stop at a time and we’ll be fine offensively,” Tilghman said. “It was hard because we were beating ourselves the first two overtimes but we cleaned things up and went to zone and that was good for us.”
In the first half, the Hawks started off up nine in the first two minutes with the score being 9-0, thanks to two freshman guard Deion Hammond threes and a three from junior guard Micah Seaborn. Siena would close the gap and take the lead for the first time later in the first half. The nine-point lead was the highest lead for either team. The halftime score would be 36-34, advantage Monmouth.
The Hawks and Saints would trade baskets for the second half. Tilghman made two free throws to give Monmouth the 66-64 lead with one minute left in regulation. Siena would make a jumper with 26 seconds left to tie it up at 66 all. Seaborn would miss the potential game-winning layup with seven seconds left, making it the third overtime game of the season for the blue and white.
Siena would be up 74-72 with 32 seconds left after a layup. Seaborn would attempt a go-ahead three-pointer with 14 seconds left which would be off the mark, but freshman guard Ray Salnave would get the offensive rebound and be fouled, making two free throws to send it to the second overtime.
In the second overtime, Monmouth would be up 85-80 with 25 seconds left after two made Seaborn free throws. Siena would make a layup and three free throws in the final 19 seconds to send it to a third overtime period.
In the final two seconds in the third overtime, Tilghman made two game-winning free throws, got a steal, and clinched the game with two more free throws to give Monmouth the 93-89 victory.
“We got some older guys that have been through some things before,” Rice said. “Austin was awesome, anytime you can get a win in three overtimes your kids had to fight.”
For the game, Tilghman finished tying his career-high with 24 points while adding eight rebounds and four steals. Hammond, Seaborn, and senior center Zac Tillman also were in double-figures with 16, 15, and 15 points, respectively. This was the first game back for Seaborn after missing seven games due to injury.
On Friday night, the Hawks fell to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) leader Canisius 78-60. Hammond and sophomore guard Louie Pillari led the Hawks with 14 points each.
“Tough night for the Hawks. We got outplayed by a better team tonight,” Rice said. “When you watch [Canisius] play, they’re a team together… we’re a group right now that’s trying to become a team.”
The blue and white would be up 22-19 with eight minutes left in the first half. Canisius would retake the lead after a made three-pointer before the under-four media timeout and would lead the rest of the way. Monmouth would go into halftime down 39-30 and the Golden Griffs would win with the score being 78-60.
The Hawks (10-18, 6-10 MAAC) will play their final two games of the regular season this week. First in a hOURglass rivally and Senior Day game against Rider on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. at the OceanFirst Bank Center. Then the blue and white will play the regular season finale at Fairfield on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
