The Monmouth Hawks (9-18) took on the Stony Brook Seawolves (6-21) in a late afternoon matchup on Long Island, Thursday, Feb. 13. The Hawks came out on top with the 79-69 victory, marking it as their third road win of the season. Monmouth has proven themselves to be a potential threat to make a run in the upcoming CAA tournament as the team is now 4-2 in their last six interconference games, with both losses coming against the Towson Tigers (18-9), who are currently the top team in the CAA standings.
Monmouth’s ability to share the basketball was a big reason the Hawks came away with the victory. For just the second time this season, five Hawks scored in double digits. Sophomore forward Corneluis Robinson III led the way in the scoring category for the Hawks with 15 points, shooting 5-8 on FGs (field goals).
The Hawks were able to rack up a season-high 22 assists collectively. Sophomore guard Abdi Bashir Jr. had a career-high seven assists, which is the most in one game by a Hawk this season.
The Hawks got much better play off the bench as their bench players outscored Stony Brook’s, 26-5.
Seawolves’ CJ Luster had an impressive day, sinking seven three-pointers and scoring a total of 28 points. Although, the Hawks ability to shut down most of the other Stony Brook players was a key aspect to the win as Stony Brook only hit 42.4% of their FGs compared to Monmouth’s 50.9% success rate.
The Hawks gained control early as they went on an 8-0 run that put the score at 22-13 in favor of the Hawks with 11:04 left in the first half after a three-pointer was made by redshirt sophomore and guard Andrew Ball. Ball scored a season-high 14 points in this contest.
Stony Brook cut the Hawks lead to six points with 4:25 to go in the first half, but Monmouth would finish the half on a 7-2 run, with five of those points from junior guard Jack Collins.
This run gave the Hawks a comfortable 42-31 lead going into halftime.
The Seawolves would be the team to jump out of the halftime break with more juice, cutting the Hawks lead to just one point after a layup from Luster put the score at 48-47 with 14:09 left in the game.
Both teams continued to score for the rest of the second half, making it a very close game towards the end. Stony Brook was in striking distance for the chance to complete a comeback after Andre Snoddy made a two point tip shot that cut the Hawks lead to 70-67 with 1:47 left in the second half.
The Hawks team prevailed in the final 1:47 thanks to six huge points from junior guard Madison Durr that came on back to back possessions. These important baskets from Durr broke the game loose for Monmouth, resulting in a 79-69 win for the Hawks.
