WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Trailing by as many as 30 points in the first half, Monmouth staged a second-half comeback to get within seven, before ultimately falling to Lehigh 80-71 in non-conference action, on Sunday afternoon. Monmouth, now 1-4 at home, drops to 2-12 with the loss, while the Mountain Hawks improve to 7-3.

Lehigh's once-commanding 30-point lead was whittled down to single digits after a pair of George Barbour free throws made the score 67-58 with 4:58 left in the contest. Barbour then got free inside and scored off an assist from Mike Myers Keitt to cut the lead to 69-62 with 2:18 remaining, but Lehigh went 9-for-11 from the free throw line in the final minute to seal the victory.

Simpson led the way for Monmouth with a career-high 25 points, tying a career-high with six three-pointers, along with a career-best seven rebounds. Barbour set a new career-high with 13 points and tied a career-high with five rebounds. Myers Keitt chipped in with 12 points and four assists while James Hett dished out a game-high six assists. Travis Taylor contributed nine points and five rebounds off the bench for the Hawks.

Lehigh got off to a hot start as Rob Keefer hit his first two shots from three-point range to stake the Mountain Hawks to an early 10-2 lead with 15:41 left in the first half. The visitors pushed their advantage to 17-2 after Marquis Hall drilled a left-wing three at the 13:11 mark of the opening half. MU hit their first basket of the game when R.J. Rutledge slashed to the basket and connected on a lay in at the 13:04 mark of the first half.

The Hawks hit one of their first 10 shots en route to falling behind 21-4 with 11:45 left in the first half. Dutch Gaitley got the friendly roll on a jumper from the free throw line to cut Lehigh's lead to 21-8, but Phil Anderson answered with consecutive left-corner threes to push their lead back to 19 points on the ensuing two possessions.

Barbour converted a traditional three-point play to cut the Lehigh lead to 41-14 with 4:30 left in the first half. The Mountain Hawks went ahead by 30 on two occasions, the latest coming with 2:31 remaining in the stanza, 46-16, after two Hall free throws. Back-to-back baskets from Alex Nunner and Simpson, the latter a three from straight away, cut the Mountain Hawks' lead in half at 46-23 with 1:10 to go in the first half.

Lehigh took a 48-23 lead into intermission as it hit six first half three-pointers.

Myers Keitt found fellow freshman Taylor with a high-low lob which Taylor gathered and scored off of while getting fouled for Monmouth. He hit the subsequent free throw to cut the Lehigh lead to 55-32 with six minutes gone by in the second half. Simpson then drilled a three to get the Mountain Hawks advantage under 20 at 57-39 with 13:05 left in the game. A pair of free throws from Myers Keitt sliced the Lehigh lead even further at 57-43 with just less than 12 minutes left in the game. After Lehigh's Hall drilled a long two, Simpson answered by swishing a three from the left wing to make the score 59-46.

MU shot 42.3% for the game while limiting Lehigh 36.7% field goal shooting for the game. MU hit 7-of-21 three-pointers in the game, including 5-for-9 in the second half. The Hawks hit 20-of-28 free throws, while Lehigh connected on 28-of-37 from the charity stripe. LU was paced by Hall, who scored 23 points. Anderson added 16 while Keefer scored 15 points.

Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, January 3 when the Hawks host Sacred Heart in Northeast Conference action. Tip off for “Military Appreciation Day” is set for 7 p.m., as members of the military and their families will be admitted free to the game.