FAIRFAX, Va. - Despite a career-best night from freshman Andrew Nicholas, the Monmouth University men's basketball team fell to Brown University 79-71 in the final game of the 2011 Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday night in the Patriot Center.
Nicholas, who connected on 11-of-18 from the field, for a season-high 24 points, paced three Hawks in double-figures as Mike Myers Keitt added 14 points and Phill Wait chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds.
Brown, which hit 67.9% from the floor in the opening half, connected on 61.2% for the game, and had four players in double-figures, led by Stephen Albrecht's 22 points.
After Wait's short jumper knotted the game at 2-2, the Bears answered with a 7-0 run to grab an early 9-2 lead on Albrecht's three-pointer. Brown increased its lead to seven points, 11-4 with 16:08 showing, before consecutive baskets from Nicholas pulled the Hawks within 14-12 with 14:17 left.
Five straight points from forward Andrew McCarthy gave the Bears a 21-14 edge with 12:50 on the board, but the Hawks responded with a 13-3 spurt, highlighted by a pair of treys from Nicholas, to snare a 27-24 lead with 10:25 showing.
Monmouth held a 33-30 advantage with 7:57 left on a Nicholas jumper, but the Bears put together a 10-0 run, sparked by three straight three-pointers, including a pair from Albrecht, as Brown took a 40-33 lead with 5:21 until the break.
The Hawks trimmed the deficit to 43-40 on Ed Waite's short jump shot, but Brown outscored the Hawks 7-4 in the final 1:42 of the stanza to hold a 50-44 edge at the intermission.
Brown hauled in a 10-point lead with 14:13 remaining in the contest on Sean McGonagill's three-pointer, but the Hawks answered nine seconds later on a Myers Keitt trey, to make the score 59-52, with 14:04 on the clock.
Trailing 64-56, the Hawks strung together a 7-0 spurt, capped by Myers Keitt's drive, to pull within 64-63 with 5:22 left, and the senior's drive off a break made the tally 68-67 with 2:36 showing.
After McGonagill's pull-up jumper gave Brown a 70-67 edge at 2:22, the Hawks missed an opportunity to climb within a single point following two missed foul shots, and the Bears connected on two straight three-pointers to give BU a 76-67 lead with 1:07 remaining.
Drives from Nesmith and Myers Keitt made the score 76-71, but the Bears held on for the eight-point victory.
Nicholas added four rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Hawks, while Myers Keitt chipped in four assists and four rebounds to his season-high 14 points. In addition to five points, Waite added seven boards and four helpers, while Austin Tillotson contributed five assists.
Monmouth returns to action on Friday, when the Hawks travel to Nashville, Tennessee to face No. 22/18 Vanderbilt University at 10:00 p.m. [ET].
