PRINECTON, N.J. - Monmouth's second half rally fell short, as the Hawks dropped a 46-42 non-conference contest at Princeton on Wednesday night in Jadwin Gym.

Monmouth, which trailed 33-23 with 8:20 remaining, pulled within 45-42, but Whitney Coleman's game-tying three-point attempt with just under 20 seconds left fell off the rim, and a Princeton free throw allowed the Tigers to hold on for the four-point win.

After a Coleman layup with 21.1 seconds left pulled the Hawks within 45-42, James Hett's steal on the ensuing inbounds play led to the game-tying opportunity.

The Hawks were led by sophomore Travis Taylor (7-for-10 FG), who just missed his fifth career double-double, as the forward tallied a team-best 17 points and nine rebounds. Coleman finished with eight points and five boards.

Princeton took a 10-5 lead at 13:29, as Douglas Davis notched all of the Tigers points to open the game, but the Hawks tallied two straight baskets, a Taylor reverse layup and Marcus Ware's jumper, to pull within 10-9 at 10:23.

Monmouth, which lifted its run to 6-0, grabbed its first lead of the game 11-10 at 7:55 on Taylor's third basket of the half.

Princeton, which went scoreless for 11:08, retook a 12-11 edge on a pair of free throws with 4:21 left in the stanza, and tallied five straight to take a 17-13 lead at 1:32. After Will Campbell's offensive rebound and putback trimmed the lead to 18-17, Kareem Maddox's short jumper as time expired pushed Princeton ahead 20-17 at the intermission.

The Tigers opened the second half with an 8-2 spurt to grab their largest lead, 28-19, with 16:27 showing, before a Mike Myers Keitt pull-up jumper in the lane trimmed the advantage to 28-21 with 15:39 remaining.

Princeton corralled a double-digit advantage, 33-23 with 8:20 on the clock behind Davis' fourth trey, before back-to-back Nick DelTufo layups allowed the Hawks to climb within 33-27 with just under eight minutes left.

Taylor's offensive putback with 4:45 showing made the score 37-31, and Taylor's traditional three-point play pulled Monmouth within 38-34 with 2:30 showing.

The two squads exchanged baskets in consecutive possessions, as Taylor's post move made the score 40-36 with 54.0 seconds left. After a pair of Taylor foul shots pulled the Hawks within 41-38 with 40.8 ticks left, Coleman's free throws made it a three-point contest, 43-40 with 26.9 on the clock.

Monmouth, which went 0-for-11 from three-point range, connected on 15-of-45 field goal attempts (33.3%) in the game, while holding Princeton (5-4) to a 30.4% success rate from the floor.

Monmouth (3-8) returns to action on Saturday, December 19, when the Hawks host Rider, at 7:00 p.m.