EASTON, PA. – Monmouth University fell to 1-10 on the road with its 69-54 loss at Lafayette College in men's basketball action on Wednesday night in the Kirby Sports Center. The Hawks, who are now 2-11 on the year, had two players in double-figures, as
Will Campbell's 12 points and
Jesse Steele's 11 points led the way for the Blue and White.
The Leopards jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening 2:12, and increased their edge to 14-4 on Jim Mower's baseline drive at 14:21. A
Marcus Ware free throw, coupled with a Steele three-pointer, pulled Monmouth within 14-8 with 13:09 showing, but Lafayette responded with seven straight to take a 21-8 lead with 11:04 showing.
Another Steele trey made the MU deficit ten points, but Joey Ptasinski's answer from beyond the arc with 9:22 on the clock, gave Lafayette a 24-11 edge.
Trailing by 13 for a second time,
Austin Tillotson's three-pointer sparked a 9-0 Monmouth run over 2:09, which allowed the Hawks to climb within 24-20 with 4:50 left in the half, but a pair of Mower trifectas, coupled with another Ptasinski trey, pushed LC ahead 33-22 with 2:10 remaining.
The Leopards, who shot 52.2% from the field in the stanza, held a 35-25 lead at the break.
The two sides alternated three-pointers out of the gate in the second half, but LC connected on consecutive treys to take a 44-28 lead with 16:18 left.
LC pushed the advantage to 45-28 with 15:10 on the board, but an
Ed Waite three-point play pulled MU within 45-31 with 14:18 showing. Behind another Waite drive and a
Dion Nesmith free throw, the Hawks climbed within 47-34 at 12:53, but the Leopards took a 62-42 advantage on Mower's fifth three-pointer with 5:58 left.
Lafayette inflated its lead to 67-45 with 4:30 remaining, following five straight points from Ptasinski, before Campbell netted seven points in the final 1:34 to make the final tally 69-54.
Monmouth connected on 30.5% from the field (18-59), while the Leopards, who had three players in double-digits, connected on 44.0% overall (22-50), including 14 three-pointers.
Monmouth returns to action on New Year's Day, when the Hawks travel to Chapel Hill to face No. 5 North Carolina in the Smith Center. Tip is set for 3:00 p.m., on ESPNU.
