WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - In its 13th game decided by five points or less on the season, Monmouth dropped a 62-61 Northeast Conference contest to visiting St. Francis (N.Y.), on Thursday in the Multipurpose Activity Center. The Terriers, who improve to 4-5 in the league, collected the victory on Justin Newton's free throw with 1.2 seconds remaining, his only point of the game.

Monmouth, which trailed by as many as eight points on three different occasions in the second half, connected on seven free throws to retake the lead 59-58, when Ed Waite drilled a pair with 1:27 left. Marcus Ware's offensive rebound and putback knotted the score at 61-61 with 15.4 seconds remaining, but Newton was fouled after corralling an offensive rebound, on Ricky Cadell's airball, with 1.2 on the clock.

"The game was at a good pace for us," commented head coach Dave Calloway. "We settled down defensively in the second half."

The Hawks, who connected on 22-of-34 from the foul line in the game, had three players in double-figures, led by Ware's career-best tying 18 points and seven rebounds. Phil Wait added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Jesse Steele chipped in 10 points as well.

Monmouth, which had five players haul in seven-plus rebounds in the game, got a nine-point, eight-rebound and career-best five-assist outing from Ed Waite, while Mike Myers Keitt tied a career-high with eight caroms. R.J. Rutledge added nine points and seven rebounds.

"If we had taken care of the ball, made some more foul shots and layups, we would have been in a great position to win tonight," added Calloway.

Monmouth opened the scoring on Rutledge's three-pointer, and grabbed a 9-7 edge after a third straight basket in the paint from Ware, with 16:03 left in the half. Ware's third hoop started an 8-0 spurt for the Hawks, as Steele capped the run with a fast break lay-up with 12:42 on the clock, putting the Hawks in front 15-7.

Stefan Perunicic's second three-pointer of the stanza stopped the Monmouth streak, and cut the lead to 15-10, but Rutledge's back-door layup off a feed from Waite, claimed a 17-10 edge for the Hawks at 12:05.

After the Hawks grabbed a seven-point advantage, the Terriers, paced by eight points from Ricky Cadell, rattled off a 10-5 run, to climb within 22-20, with 9:07 remaining. Following a Wait free throw, SFC pulled even at 23-23, on Travis Nichols' trey from the wing.

SFC increased its run to 15-6 over a five-minute span to take a 25-23 lead, its first of the game, and hauled in a 27-23 advantage on a pair of Nichols' foul shots with 5:36 left until the break.

Monmouth answered with three straight points from Ware and a three-point play from Steele to reclaim the lead, 29-27, with 3:56 remaining.

Over the final 3:34, the lead changed five times, as the Terriers carried a 35-34 edge into the half after two more Cadell free throws with 41.3 ticks showing.

SFC raced out of the break on an 8-2 run, as the Terriers grabbed a 43-36 lead just 3:07 into the second half, and extended the streak to 13-6 to take a 48-40 edge with 14:20 left.

A Ware offensive putback and a traditional three-point play allowed the Hawks to climb within 50-45, and Wait's free throw, made the tally 50-46 at 11:36.

Following four successful free throws from Myers Keitt, which pulled the Hawks within 52-50, SFC increased its lead to 56-50 on Nichols' putback, with 6:51 on the board.

Three straight foul shots from Wait and Myers Keitt trimmed the deficit to 58-55 with 4:40 left, and Ware allowed Monmouth to climb within 58-57 with a pair of free throws with 2:08 left.

Following a forced turnover, Waite was fouled on a drive and connected on two more shots to give Monmouth a one-point edge with 1:27 left, its first lead since 41 seconds left in the first half.

Cadell's three-pointer reclaimed a lead for SFC, 61-59, with 57.2 ticks left, but Ware's putback knotted the game at 61-61 with 15.4 seconds remaining.

Following a Monmouth timeout, Newton was fouled on his putback attempt after an offensive rebound, and hit one free throw to put the Terriers ahead for good.

After Newton missed the second, the Hawks called their final timeout with 1.0 second left, inbounding the ball from the far baseline, but were unable to get a game-winning attempt off in time.

SFC (9-11 overall) was paced by Cadell's game-high 20 points, and Nichols' 16 points, as the Terriers connected on 29.7% from the floor.

Monmouth (6-15, 2-7 NEC) returns to action on Saturday, January 29, when the Hawks host Long Island University in an MSG-televised Northeast Conference game 2:00 p.m., in the MAC.