LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. - Monmouth University dropped a 74-54 decision at Rider University in men's collegiate basketball action on Wednesday night in Alumni Gymnasium. The Hawks, now 4-6 on the season, were lead by Ed Waite's 14 points and five rebounds, as the sophomore hit 7-for-10 from the floor.

Monmouth opened the scoring just eight seconds into the game on Jordan Davis' three-pointer, but the Broncs answered with nine straight points to take a 9-3, behind a pair of treys from Justin Robinson, with 16:07 left. A pair of Davis free throws ended the streak, and Gary Cox's three-pointer pulled Monmouth within 12-8 with 14:04 on the clock.

Consecutive trifectas and two foul shots from the Broncs upped Rider's advantage to 20-8 with 10:48 remaining, before a James Hett free throw ended the RU 8-0 spurt. Following Hett's foul shot, which made the score 20-9, Novar Gadson registered a traditional three-point play after an offensive rebound, to give Rider a 23-9 lead with 9:20 remaining.

Monmouth responded with a 14-5 run, eight of which came from Mike Myers Keitt, to climb within 28-23 on Davis' lay-in, with 3:45 on the clock. The Broncs halted the Hawks' spurt on an Anthony Myles' wing three-pointer, but Myers Keitt drilled his third trey in a 5:30-minute span to make the score 31-26 with 3:04 left.

Rider answered with an 8-0 spurt in just over a minute of action, highlighted by two straight Tommy Pereira three-pointers, to grab a 39-26 lead with 56 seconds left, and carried that 13-point advantage at the intermission.

The Broncs tied their largest lead of the game behind a free throw to open the half, but two foul shots each from Myers Keitt and R.J. Rutledge pulled Monmouth within 40-30 with 17:37 left in the contest.

Ed Waite's back-cut layup off a feed from Hett trimmed the RU lead to single-digits, 41-32, with 16:42 remaining, but Myles' trey put the Broncs ahead 46-34 with 14:56 on the clock. Three foul shots from Rutledge cut the Rider lead to 46-37, but Pereira's third trey gave the Broncs a 51-39 advantage with 13:10 showing.

Waite recorded four straight baskets for the Hawks to make the score 56-48 with 7:51 left, but the Broncs answered with a 10-3 run over the next four minutes to increase the lead to 66-51 with 3:56 remaining in the game.

A three-pointer from Will Campbell trimmed the deficit to 66-54, but the Broncs outscored Monmouth 8-0 over the final 3:45, including a Robinson three-pointer with 17 seconds left, to coral the 74-54 win.

Monmouth, which registered assists on its first 12 baskets of the game, received a 13-point effort from Myers Keitt, and seven-point outings from both Rutledge and Davis.

Rider, which improves to 7-5, was led by Robinson's 22 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals.

Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, December 18 when the Hawks host Rutgers University in the MAC at 7:00 p.m.