CAMBRIDGE, MASS. - The Monmouth University men's basketball team wrapped up its non-conference action with a 74-69 loss at Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion Wednesday night. Monmouth, which shot a season-best 48.9% from the field and 57.1% from three-point range, falls to 4-9 overall, while Harvard improves to 8-3.

"I thought we fought hard and fought to the end," said head coach Dave Calloway. "We did some nice things offensively, but we had some bad turnovers in big situations and could not come up with the stops in key spots against a good Harvard team."

Monmouth, which got 48 points off the bench, including 17 from Will Campbell and 16 from Gary Cox, shot a season-high 48.9% from the floor (23-47), while connecting on 57.1% from beyond the arc (12-21), also a season-high.

Harvard, picked second in the Ivy League's preseason poll, narrowly behind league favorite Princeton, jumped out to a 6-0 lead as Kyle Casey connected on two layups and a dunk within the first three minutes of the game. Mike Myers Keitt laid in a backdoor layup off a feed from James Hett to cut the lead to four heading into the first media timeout.

With 15 minutes left in the half, Nick DelTufo connected on one of two foul shots to cut the Crimson lead to three.  After a defensive stop, Cox landed a wing three pointer to knot the score a 6-6.  After two more defensive stops, Cox connected on another three to give the Hawks their first lead of the game, 9-6.

Following back-to-back layups by Harvard, Hett found Campbell for a backdoor layup to retake the lead at 11-10 with 11:30 left in the first frame.

After Harvard's Christian Webster hit a corner three go up 13-11, Phil Wait collected his own offensive rebound for a put back with 8:52 left to reduce Harvard's lead to one. After a Harvard turnover, Ed Waite knocked in two free throws to give the Blue and White a one-point advantage. Brandyn Curry and Campbell exchanged three-pointers, to keep the Hawks ahead one with 7:37 left.

Four straight foul shots from Harvard gave the Crimson a three point lead with 6:08 remaining but a Jordan Davis layup cut the lead to two.

The Crimson's Andrew Van Nest hit a three in a corner giving Harvard a four point lead, but MU answered as Waite connected on one of two foul shots followed by back-to-back threes from Jesse Steele and Davis to push the Hawks ahead by three.

On the ensuing defensive play, Campbell stole the ball and took it the length of the floor for a fast break layup, giving the Hawks its biggest lead of the game at five.

After two Harvard free throws and a jumper by Kyle Casey to cut the lead to one, Cox connected with this third three of the ball game, extending the lead to 33-29 with 1:24 left.  On the next defensive stand, Marcus Ware stole the ball started the transition, where Cox found an open Myers Keitt for a corner three putting the Hawks up seven going into the break, capping off a 15-4 Hawks' run to end the half.

Harvard started the second half scoring as Christian Webster knocked down a three and Keith Wright hit three straight foul shots to pull within one, 36-35.

Waite stopped the Harvard run as he put in a feed from Cox to regain the lead with 15:42.  With score tied at 40, Rivard hit a three giving the Crimson a lead with 12:48 left.  Wait answered with a layup to cut the lead to one, but  Casey answered with a baseline jumper for Harvard to regain the three point advantage at the second media timeout of the final half.

Out of the timeout, Davis connected with Campbell with a cross court pass where the junior knocked down a three to tie the game at 45. After a defensive stop, Cox connected on his fourth three of the game, giving the Hawks a 48-45 lead with 10:41 left.

After two Campbell three throws, the Hawks recorded a stop and Waite connected on a layup to give the Hawks a seven point lead with 9:42. After another defensive stop, Campbell knocked down a baseline jumper increasing the lead to nine, forcing Harvard to call a timeout.

Following the timeout, Harvard scored eight straight as Oliver McNally hit a three, while Rivard connected on a three of his own and a jumper inside the arc.

Campbell gave the Hawks the lead with a three, but Harvard responded as McNally hit in transition to retake the lead.  On the next offensive trip down, Waite's runner in the lane fell to give the Blue and White a 59-58 advantage with 4:44 left, but Curry put the Crimson back on top with a top with a fast-break three pointer, seven seconds later.

Following McNally's three throws, Steele's three pointer with 2:49 left in the game cut Harvard lead to one point.

With the Hawks down two, under two minutes to play, Harvard collected a offensive rebound and took 30 seconds off the game clock as Rivard laid in an uncontested rebound with 58 seconds left in regulation.

Following Curry free throws, Davis knocked in a three with 34 second left to cut Harvard's lead to three, but Rivard knocked in two foul shots to push the lead to five. After a Myers Keitt missed three point attempt, the junior stole the ball and dunked it in with 15 seconds left, to pull the Hawks within 72-69.

After another free throw, Campbell's three point attempt was blocked and Curry hit one of two free throws to put the game out of reach for the Hawks.

Monmouth returns to action on Monday, January 3, when the Hawks return to Northeast Conference action as the Blue and White host Bryant University in the MAC at 7:00 p.m.