WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth men's basketball team dropped a 71-58 decision to visiting Quinnipiac in Northeast Conference action, on Saturday night. The Hawks, who trailed 50-49 with 8:38 remaining, were outscored 21-9 for the remainder of the contest, to fall to 4-13 on the season, and 1-4 in the NEC.
Quinnipiac improves to 8-8 overall and 4-1 in conference play.
Monmouth opened with a 5-2 lead at 18:20 after Nick DelTufo's jumper, but Quinnipiac answered with a 10-0 run, over 3:30, capped by Evann Baker's wing three-pointer.
The Hawks responded with a10-1 spurt over a three minute span to pull within 16-15 when Yaniv Simpson drained a trifecta.
The Bobcats built a five-point edge, 23-18, with 8:20 left as Baker connected on another trey, but Monmouth clawed its way into the lead, 27-26, with 3:49 remaining until the break, when Alex Nunner dropped in a hoop off an inbounds play.
Trailing by four, Nunner drilled a corner trey with 1:56 remaining to make the score 31-30, and Jhamar Youngblood's scoop in the lane made the score 36-34 at the intermission.
Quinnipiac opened the second stanza with a 13-5 spurt to corral a 49-39 advantage with 13:28 showing. DeMario Anderson's transition three-pointer capped the run, in which Whitney Coleman netted four of the Hawks' points.
After QU matched its largest lead of the game, Monmouth answered with a 10-1 spurt, capped by consecutive threes from R.J. Rutledge and Simpson, to pull within 50-49, with 8:38 left.
The Bobcats scored the eight points, over a 2:14 span, to reclaim a 58-49 advantage, but DelTufo's put-back ended the run and made the score 58-51, with 5:25 remaining.
QU outscored Monmouth 11-5 over the next 3:16 to corral a 69-56 edge with 2:09 left, and held on for the 13-point victory.
Monmouth, now 1-6 at home, was led by the duo of Coleman and Youngblood, who collected 18 and 12 points respectively. Simpson added nine points, while DelTufo chipped in eight.
Quinnipiac, who connected on 23-of-28 free throws in the game, had two players score over 20 points, as DeMario Anderson collected a game-high 24 points. Baker added 21 points, as the Bobcats hit for 51.3% from the floor.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday night, when the Hawks host defending league champion CCSU, at 7 p.m.
