Men’s Basketball got handed a loss on the road before claiming their 13th straight home win. The Hawks traveled to Towson, Maryland, on Feb. 22 to face Towson, where graduate student Xander Rice led the Hawks with 16 points. The Hawks, however, walked away with a 80-61 loss. This was the second matchup of the season for these two teams. The Hawks and Tigers first met this season on Jan. 4 at the OceanFirst Bank Center, where Monmouth won by eight points, 51-43.
It was a quick start for both teams in the opening few minutes, but Towson eventually took control, using a 18-4 run to lead by as many as 16 in the first period. Monmouth was able to cut the deficit with efforts from freshman Cornelius Robinson, Jr., and freshman Abdi Bashir, Jr., who both had a basket each to send Monmouth into the half down by 12, 44-32.
Sophomore Jack Collins hit a three and Rice went 3-3 from the free throw line for a 6-0 run for the Hawks. The Tigers returned the favor with a 8-0 run of their own, to further their lead and lock in the win. Freshman Quinn Peters knocked in a basket from behind the arc to finalize the score 80-61.
Despite the loss, Monmouth shot better from the three, 40%, compared to Towson’s 36%.
Men’s Basketball has done an impressive job this season of protecting their home court, with a 13-1 record at home. Monmouth secured that 13th win on Feb. 24 when they faced North Carolina A&T and won 83-67.
Monmouth celebrated Black History Night as well as senior night, where six Hawks were honored before Saturday’s game: Jack Holmstrom, Jakari Spence, Braedan Allen, Klemen Vuga, Nikita Konstantynovskyi, and Xander Rice.
Head Coach King Rice started Holmstrom, Spence, Allen, Vuga, and Kanstanovski for their last home game of their collegiate career. Holmstrom opened the game with two threes in the opening minute to quickly put Monmouth ahead 6-0. N.C. A&T answered with an even larger run, 12-0. With the Aggies leading by as many as six, Monmouth handed the Aggies their own 12-0 run to take back the lead. With 4:37 left to go in the first half, Monmouth scored the next 14 points to increase their lead to 11. Just when Monmouth thought they would go into the half up by 11, Rice made the lead 14 with a buzzer-beating three to make it 41-30.
Monmouth continued to build their lead in the second half, with a 7-0 run. This run saw a triple from both Bashir and redshirt freshman Jaret Valencia. Valencia, Rice, and Vuga combined for a total of 36 points, 12 points each. Monmouth is now 4-0 all time against N.C. A&T.
This win tied a program record set by the 2003-04 Men’s Basketball team, who finished the season 13-0 at home.
The Hawks will visit Hampton on Thursday, Feb. 29, at 7 p.m. before visiting Elon on Mar. 2 for the last regular season game.
