WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Fairleigh Dickinson erased a nine-point deficit in the second half, and outscored Monmouth 17-4 in the final seven minutes, to escape with a 70-66 victory over the Hawks in Northeast Conference men's basketball action on Friday night in Boylan Gym.

Monmouth, which is now 1-8 at home this season, falls to 5-15 overall, and 2-6 in the conference. FDU improves 6-11 overall and 2-5 in the league. Three of the last four meetings between the two schools have been decided by four points or less.

After FDU opened an 8-7 lead at 17:09, when Sean Baptiste tipped-in a miss, Monmouth, highlighted by five straight points from Whitney Coleman, rattled off a 7-0 run over a 1:03 span to corral a 14-8 edge with 15:42 remaining in the half.

Coleman drained his second trifecta of the opening stanza with 13:51 showing to give Monmouth a 17-10 advantage, but the Knights dropped in two straight layups to pull within 17-14 with 11:28 left.

Monmouth opened another seven-point edge, 21-14, with 9:15 left, capped by R.J. Rutledge's steal and fast break dunk, but the Knights answered with an 8-2 spurt to make the score 23-22 with 7:32 left. Bernell Murray's steal and three-point play made it a one-point contest.

Eric Hazzard's corner three-pointer knotted the score a 25-25 with 6:14 left, but Yaniv Simpson's five straight points, including a deep trey from the top of the key, put the Hawks ahead 30-25 with 5:00 showing.

Consecutive back-door layups by Jhamar Youngblood and Coleman put Monmouth ahead 34-28 with 3:34 left, and the Hawks pushed the lead to 41-31 with a 1:45 remaining when Nick DelTufo's post move gave MU the double-digit lead.

Manny Ubilla, the NEC's leading scorer, netted the final five points of the half, including his third three-pointer, to pull the Knights within 41-36 at the break.

FDU scored the first five points out of the break to tie the score at 41-41, but the Hawks responded with an 8-0 spurt, highlighted by back-to-back trifectas from Alex Nunner and Coleman, to reclaim a 49-41 advantage, with 16:03 remaining in the game.

FDU pulled within 49-46 when Ubilla drained a three-pointer off a skip pass, but Rutledge's layup off a pass from Dutch Gaitley, gave Monmouth a 56-48 edge with 12:39 left.

The Hawks maintained a seven-point edge with 9:00 left in the contest, and inflated the lead to 62-53 on Rutledge's drive to the basket with 7:04 showing. The Knights answered with a 10-2 run to pull within 64-63 with 2:25 left, when Baptiste registered a steal and a breakaway slam.

After James Hett had his three-point attempt rattle out with 1:50 left, the Knights took their first lead since it was 8-7, when Ubilla drained a deep trey with 1:28 on the clock, giving FDU a 66-64 lead. In the next possession, FDU forced a Monmouth turnover with 1:08 left, and Murray missed the front end of a one-and-one with 50 seconds left.

Monmouth maintained possession with 31.5 seconds left in the game, but was unable to get the ball inbounds successfully. After Ubilla missed one free throw, the Hawks trailed 67-64 with 27.8 seconds left.

DelTufo's tip-in off a Coleman missed free throw with 23.1 ticks left pulled Monmouth within one-point 67-66, before Baptiste stepped to the line and hit just one foul shot for the Knights, making the score 68-66.

With no time outs remaining, Nunner's runner fell off the rim with 10 seconds left. After another foul, Baptiste stepped up and hit two free throws to seal the 70-66 win for the Knights.

Coleman led Monmouth with 21 points and a career-high tying eight rebounds, while Rutledge chipped in 15 points in his second career start. The Hawks connected on 48.0% from the field, but committed 21 turnovers, which led to 22 points for the Knights. Baptiste, who connected on 13-of-16 from the free throw line, led FDU with 23 points and 10 rebounds, his third double-double of the season.