WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? The Monmouth University men's basketball team scored a 65-47 win over in-state rival Saint Peter's in non-conference action on Friday evening at Boylan Gym. The Hawks, who claimed their first home victory of the season, improve to 2-11, while the Peacocks fall to 3-7.

“Last season, our young players got better as the year went on,” said head coach Dave Calloway. “The freshmen are helping our inside presence offensively, but tonight our defense was very good. That's what it will take to win games in the conference, solid defense night in and night out.”

The Hawks took an early 9-5 lead 15:19 into the game paced by a Yaniv Simpson right-corner three and a Dutch Gaitley turnaround jumper. Monmouth doubled up the Peacocks at 14-7 after another Simpson three, this one from the top of the key.

A driving lay in from Will Campbell and a Travis Taylor hoop pushed the MU advantage 23-11 at the 8:00 mark of the first half. Alex Nunner canned a left-corner jumper to beat the shot clock buzzer and give MU a 25-14 lead with 3:58 to go in the opening half.

After Saint Peter's switched to a 2-3 zone defense, James Hett was able to find Nunner on the opposite wing for a three and Monmouth closed the half when Taylor put his stamp on the first 20 minutes with a two-handed power dunk as time expired to give the Hawks a 32-18 halftime lead. MU's 14-point halftime lead is their largest intermission advantage of the season, and the Peacocks'18 points was the lowest total Monmouth has allowed in the first half since limiting St. Francis (N.Y.) to 15 points back on January 19, 2008.

The Hawks, who shot 60.9% in the first half, had a double-digit lead for the fourth time this season, and had 11 assists on their 14 first half field goals. Nunner led the way with seven first half points and Simpson and Taylor added six.

Three's from Simpson, Mike Myers Keitt and Nunner pushed the MU lead to 41-18 just before the first media timeout of the second half. The Hawks continued their hot shooting as they hit six of their first nine second half shots, while the Peacocks hit only two of their first 10 second half shots.

Monmouth's lead would get cut to 14 after a three from SPC's Nick Leon at the 5:50 mark, but the Hawks would quickly inflate their cushion to 60-43 after two free throws from Hett and a pull-up jumper from Myers Keitt on the left baseline.

The Hawks shot a season-high 56.1% for the game, their highest since shooting 62.5% in their 73-64 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) on February 28, 2008. Myers-Keitt paced three Hawks in double-figures with 15 points. Taylor added 12 points, while Nunner chipped in with 10 points. MU limited Saint Peter's to 31.3% field goal shooting and their bench outscored the Peacocks' 20-11.

Simpson added nine, while Dutch Gaitley scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds. Hett scored six points and dished out a team-high six assists.

Monmouth returns to action on Sunday, December 21 when they host Lehigh on “Autism Awareness Day”, at 1:00 p.m.