HACKENSACK, N.J. ? Monmouth fell at Fairleigh Dickinson, 64-55, in Northeast Conference action at Stratis Arena on Monday night. The Hawks, now 5-14 overall on the season, fall to 3-4 in the league. FDU, which swept the season series between the in-state rivals, earned its third win of the year, improving to 3-14, and 3-4 in the NEC.

Consecutive Sean Baptiste three-pointers, and Kamil Svrdlik's traditional three-point play gave the Knights a 9-2 advantage at 17:20, by three trifectas from Alex Nunner, Yaniv Simpson and James Hett pulled the Hawks even at 11-11, with 15:41 remaining in the half.

With 9:40 left, Travis Taylor's dunk in transition off a feed from Simpson, knotted the score at 19-19, and Simpson's second trifecta of the half gave the Hawks their first lead, 22-21, with 6:57 showing.

FDU responded with a 6-0 spurt over the next two minutes to grab a 27-22 edge on Svrdlik's tranisition lay-in, and pushed the lead to 33-26 with 1:26 showing on a Cameron Tyler trey over Simpson, at the top of the key.

Monmouth, which trailed by five at the half, 33-28, fell behind 36-28 in the opening minute of the second stanza when Svrdlik delivered his second three point play.

Back-to-back Mike Myers Keitt layups made the score 36-32 with 18:10 showing, but the Knights pushed the lead to 48-39 when center John Galvin connected on a jumper from the elbow.

Trailing by nine, 52-43, Simpson pulled Monmouth within 52-46 with deep trifecta, with 6:15 remaining, and his fourth trey of the contest made the score 54-49, with 4:26 left.

An FDU offensive rebound and putback, off a long three as the shot clock expired allowed the Knights to go ahead 56-49, before Taylor's jump shot in the lane made the score 56-51, with 3:15 remaining.

The Hawks made one last push, cutting the lead to 58-53 with 2:24 left, when Nunner hit two foul shots, but the Knights made six free throws in the final minute to hold on to a 64-55 victory.

Monmouth, which is now 1-10 away from Boylan Gym on the season, was led in scoring by the duo of Simpson and Taylor, who notched 16 points each. Taylor, who hit 7-for-11 from the field, added seven rebounds and three assists for Monmouth, which hit 42.0% from the floor. Simpson, who connected on 6-for-10, including four three-pointers, added five rebounds and three assists as well.

Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, January 22nd, when the Hawks host Long Island in Boylan Gym, at 7 p.m.