WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. ? Monmouth freshman guard Will Campbell, who has scored in double-figures in each of his last five games, notched a career-high 27 points, in the Hawks' 82-77 Northeast Conference loss to St. Francis College, on Saturday night in Boylan Gym.

Monmouth, which trailed by as many as 19 points in the first half, tied the score at 77-77 with 51.0 seconds left in the game on an Alex Nunner three-pointer, but Jamaal Womack's answer from three with 21.8 ticks left, and two free throws with seven seconds remaining, sealed a St. Francis road victory.

The Hawks, who trailed 23-4 at 12:05 of the opening stanza, hit 19-of-20 free throws in the second half en route to the comeback bid, but fell to 6-19 overall and 4-8 in the NEC. St. Francis, which improved to 6-7 in the league, moved to 8-15 overall.

Dutch Gaitley, who returned to the lineup after missing the last four games with an ankle injury, got the Hawks on the board with a foul line jump shot, and a pair of Campbell free throws at 18:01, pulled Monmouth even at 4-4.

The Terriers responded with the next 12 points, capped by Womack's pull-up wing jumper, to take a 16-4 advantage with 14:50 showing. SFC ran its spurt to 19-0 over a span of 5:56, to corral a 23-4 lead with 12:05 left in the half.

Monmouth, which went 7:52 in between field goals, stopped the Terrier run with consecutive Mike Myers Keitt jumpers, and pulled within 23-10, with 9:47 left on Nunner's basket.

A George Barbour free throw pulled the Hawks within 23-11 a minute later, but Nigel Byum's follow dunk ended the Hawks' 7-0 run.

Campbell, fouled on a three-point attempt at the top of the key, canned all three shots from the line, to make the score 25-14 with 8:09 left, and back-to-back reverse layups from Travis Taylor and Campbell trimmed the St. Francis lead to single-digits, 29-20, with 5:19 remaining until the break.

SFC answered with the next six points, all at the rim, to reclaim a 35-20 advantage with 3:16 showing, before consecutive Nunner baskets and a Campbell base line jumper, made the score 35-26 with 1:17 left in the opening stanza. Campbell drew the Hawks even closer with 45 ticks left, when he drilled a wing three-pointer, making the score 37-28, but Monmouth trailed 39-30 at the half.

A Perunicic trey a minute and a half into the second stanza, put the Terriers in front 44-30, but the Hawks, who scored all of their points from the foul line in the first four minutes of action, made the score 46-37 on a pair of Taylor free throws. Campbell's jumper in the lane pulled the Hawks within seven, 48-41, with 15:13 showing.

Trailing 51-44 after a Nunner corner trifecta, the Terriers pushed the lead back to 57-44 when Ricky Cadell hit a trey, and held a 60-46 advantage on Womack's corner three-pointer with 12:43 remaining.

Monmouth responded with a 9-2 spurt in the following three minutes of action to pull within 62-55 on Gaitley's offensive rebound and putback.

Perunicic's high-arcing three-pointer from the corner put the Terriers ahead 67-57 with 7:07 remaining, but a Taylor traditional three-point play and Campbell's wing trifecta, pulled the Hawks with 67-63 with 6:19 showing.

Monmouth trimmed the edge to four once again with 4:16 remaining, on Campbell's three-point play, before SFC scored five straight to go up 77-68, with 3:25 left.

Two Taylor free throws made the score 77-70 and after SFC turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds play, Campbell drained a three and was fouled, allowing the Hawks to climb within 77-74 with 1:15 remaining in the contest.

After a SFC missed free throw attempt on the front end of a one-and-one, Nunner drilled a three-pointer, fading to his left, at the top of the key, to knot the score at 77-77 with 51.0 ticks left, but Womack responded with a trey over the outstretched arm of Taylor at the top of the key with 21.8 showing, to reclaim an 80-77 edge.

A Monmouth turnover after an offensive rebound, on the ensuing possession, allowed Womack to be fouled with 9.7 seconds left, and the guard connected on both ends of the one-and-one, allowing SFC to hold on to an 82-77 victory.

Campbell, who hit a career-best seven field goals, went 10-for-11 from the line, en route to his team-high 27 points. Nunner added a career-best 16 points and seven rebounds, while Taylor notched 18 points and eight boards, and James Hett chipped in five points, six rebounds and a career-high tying eight assists.

Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, February 12th, when the Hawks travel to Long Island University for a Northeast Conference contest at 7 p.m.