LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. ? Monmouth, playing in its third game in five days, fell at Rider University 66-54 in non-conference action, on Wednesday night. The Hawks (1-10), embattled in a tie ball game with 8:25 remaining, were outscored 25-13 to close out the game. In the contest, freshman Travis Taylor notched a career-high 21 points, to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals, while junior Dutch Gaitley tallied eight points and tied a career-best with 12 rebounds and four assists.

Monmouth fell behind out of the gate 7-2 after Harris Mansell's basket off an offensive rebound at 16:44, and the Broncs pushed the edge to 12-4 at 15:08, when Justin Robinson hit a jumper. The Hawks answered with an 8-1 spurt to pull within 13-12 at the 12:14 mark, after Alex Nunner and James Hett hit consecutive three-pointers on back-to-back possessions.

Trailing 16-13, the Hawks went on a 6-0 run over a three-minute span to take a 19-16 advantage, highlighted by a Taylor dunk and Gaitley's baseline jumper.

Monmouth, which held Rider scoreless for 5:03, grabbed a 21-16 lead at 6:25 on a Taylor tip-in, and Taylor's layup off a pass from Gaitley, gave the Hawks a 23-18 advantage with 4:29 left.

Rider netted the next 10 points, behind two treys, to grab a 28-23 edge with 1:25 showing, but Mike Myers Keitt's baseline jump shot with a minute left, made the score 28-25 at the intermission.

The Broncs opened a 34-27 advantage with 17:20 left in the game, on Harris Mansell's steal and lay-in, and held a 37-30 edge, before the Hawks cut the lead to 37-36 with 12:06 showing on Nunner's jumper in transition.

Monmouth capped a 9-0 run at the 11:10 mark, when Gaitley drained his first career three-pointer, giving the Hawks a 39-37 lead.

With the game tied at 41-41, the Broncs' Patrick Mansell hit a trey out of the media time out, and drilled a second one off a Monmouth turnover, to give Rider a 47-41 lead with 6:51 remaining in the game.

Rider, which outscored Monmouth 19-4 over a 6:19-span, corralled its largest lead of the game, 60-45, with 2:06 showing.

Nunner, who was 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, finished with 13 points, as the Hawks hit 41.2% from the floor, but committed 21 turnovers.

Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, December 13, when the Hawks host Colgate in on-conference action. Tip-off in Boylan Gym is set for 7:00 p.m.