On Saturday, Feb. 28, the Monmouth Hawks took on a familiar conference foe in Elon, where they handled business, coming away with a 73-57 win at home.
With this win, Monmouth improves to 16-14 overall and 10-7 in conference play while Elon drops to 14-16 overall and a 6-11 conference record.
The Hawks were led by some familiar names such as senior forward Kavion McClain, who had 16 points, six rebounds and two assists. While junior forward Jason Rivera-Torres, finished the game with 17 points, seven rebounds, and five assists. Monmouth got some extra help from sophomore guard Justin Ray who finished with 13 points which included going 3-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Elon standout Chandler Cuthrell, a senior forward, kept Elon in the game as much as he could, finishing with 23 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Cuthrell was efficient at the line as well, ending the day 11-for-11 shooting free throws.
Monmouth had a big advantage over Elon all day on the glass, out-rebounding them 35 to 20 by the end of the game. Elon struggled from three-point land, finishing the day just 4-for-18 (22.2%), while Monmouth shot the ball effectively from deep, going 9-for-24 (37.5%).
Although Monmouth ended the game barely losing the turnover battle, they led by as many as 21 points in this game, and played tight defense, not allowing Elon to get over 30 points in either half.
As the season winds down Monmouth looks to carry this momentum into a conference tournament appearance. The Hawks will end their regular season on the road on Tuesday, Mar. 3 against Northeastern. Northeastern sits at 6-22 overall and 2-15 in conference play.
While Northeastern has struggled this year, they are not a team to look over as they are led by senior guard LA Pratt, who is averaging 17 points per game this season. The Huskies also have four other players averaging at least 10 points per game.
Since getting healthier, the Hawks have looked dangerous and are a team to look out for come tournament time, but in order to get the fourth seed and a double bye in the conference tournament, they will need to beat Northeastern and hope for a Hofstra win over Drexel.
Monmouth will be rooting for a familiar opponent in Hofstra who is led by one of the best players in the conference, junior guard Cruz Davis. The 6’3” guard is currently averaging 20.7 points per game this season, which is good enough for 23rd in all of Division I Drexel is led by junior guard Shane Blakeney, who is averaging a solid 14.5 points per game on the season.
The CAA tournament is rolling up with tons of implications on the line, and Monmouth is hoping to keep moving in the right direction. Once March rolls around, anything is possible, and whoever wins the CAA will punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament and hope to be the next big Cinderella story.
