WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Monmouth fell to the University of Rhode Island, 85-62, in the opening game of the 2008 Philly Hoop Group Classic, in Boylan Gym, on Thursday night, as freshman Travis Taylor led the Hawks with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

The Rams raced out to an 8-0 lead just two minutes into the contest, as Keith Cothran's steal off an inbounds play led to a lay-up. The Hawks pulled within 8-5 at 16:38 when Mike Myers Keitt netted five straight points, capped by his top-of-the-key three-pointer.

URI (2-1) inflated the lead to 18-7, and then 21-10 when Jimmy Baron hit consecutive treys, but Yaniv Simpson's third three-pointer of the half made it a nine-point game, 31-22, with 7:25 left.

Simpson, who hit his first four three-point attempts in the game, pulled the Blue and White within 33-25 with seven minutes left.

URI, which was in the double-bonus with 4:18 remaining in the opening half, grabbed a 38-25 edge on two Kahiem Seawright free throws. The Hawks, who treys on their four scoring possessions over a six-minute span, made the tally 38-28 with 3:52 showing, when R.J. Rutledge drilled a corner trifecta.

The Rams, who outscored Monmouth 10-2 in the final 3:52 of the opening stanza, held a 48-30 lead at the intermission, capped by Cothran's dunk on a breakaway with one tick remaining.

Monmouth, which managed just a single James Hett free throw in the opening five minutes of the second half, fell behind 57-31 with 15:00 showing, as Seawright's dunk off a Hawk turnover capped a 9-1 spurt.

The Rams continued their run, scoring the next six points and corralling a 63-31 lead with 13:15 left.

Monmouth broke its field goal draught at the 12:53 mark when Alex Nunner drained a wing three-pointer, which was followed by a Taylor layup at 12:20 to pull the Hawks within 63-36.

URI, which lead by as many as 37 points, 73-36, with 9:50 left, surrendered seven straight points to MU, five and half minutes later, which made the score 80-51 with 4:07 showing.

MU, which scored the last 11 points of the contest, made the score 85-62 at the final horn.

Taylor recorded his third straight double-digit scoring game to start his career, as the forward finished with a team-high 14 points (7-of-9 FG), nine rebounds and four assists. Myers Keitt  dropped in 13 points, while Simpson ended with 12 points, for the Hawks, who hit 43.1% from the field.

URI, which connected on 52.5% from the field (31-of-59), had four players score in double-figures, led by Cothran's 18 points. Baron, who hit eight three-pointers at Duke on Sunday, finished with 15 points, while Seawright (13) and Delroy James (10) rounded out the double-figure scorers.

Monmouth (0-3) returns to action on Saturday, November 22, when the Hawks travel to the Palestra, for a non-conference game at the University of Pennsylvania. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.