HACKENSACK, N.J. - In the 2010-11 Garden State Rivalry Series, Monmouth swept Northeast Conference rival Fairleigh Dickinson, behind a 62-51 victory in Stratis Arena on Saturday afternoon. The Hawks, who improve to 8-18 overall and 4-10 in the league, had four players in double-figures for the third time this season, paced by
Mike Myers Keitt's game-high 15 points.
Joining Myers Keitt, who added four rebounds, three steals and two assists, in the double-digit scoring column were
Ed Waite and
Jesse Steele, who had 12 points each off the bench, while
Phil Wait added 10.
James Hett chipped in with eight points, seven assists and four rebounds, while
Marcus Ware contributed five points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The second half started off scoreless for nearly four minutes, until Kamil Svrdlik's lay-in off an inbounds play with 16:05 remaining, pulled the Knights within 35-31. After FDU climbed within four, the Hawks answered with another 11-0 run, capped by back-to-back treys from Hett and Myers Keitt, to extend their lead to 46-31, with 11:12 left.
Monmouth, which limited FDU to just two field goals in the first 12 minutes of the second stanza, held a 48-36 lead with 7:50 remaining after Briahn Smith hit the Knights' third three-pointer of the game with less than two seconds left on the shot clock.
The Knights climbed within a nine-point range on a pair of occasions in the next 2:30, but Monmouth answered with a 9-2 spurt to haul in a 59-43 lead with 2:29 left in the game.
Monmouth connected on 41.4% from the floor, while holding the Knights to 14 points below their season average in the win.
A three-pointer from Myers Keitt gave the Hawks an early 3-2 edge, but behind five straight points from John Galvin, the Knights hauled in an 8-3 lead with 16:10 remaining. Fresh off the bench, Waite pulled down an offensive rebound and dropped in a three-point trip of his own to pull Monmouth 8-6 at 15:57.
FDU responded with the next five, capped by a Mike Scott trey, to grab a 13-6 lead, before consecutive hoops from Waite, both off feeds from Hett, allowed the Hawks to climb within 13-10 with 14:02 left. Monmouth increased its run to 8-0 on Waite's short jumper with 12:39 showing, to give the Hawks a 14-13 lead.
Following Tyler Reynold's go-ahead three, baskets from Wait and Ware pushed the Hawks ahead 18-16, and Monmouth claimed a 20-18 edge on a Wait dunk off a feed from Ware, with 9:53 showing.
After Briahn Smith's three reclaimed a 21-20 lead for FDU, Monmouth went on an 11-0 run, capped by consecutive three-pointers from Steele and Hett, to grab a 31-21 advantage with 3:46 left in the half.
Trailing by double-digits, the Knights responded with an 8-2 spurt of the next 1:17 of action to pull within 33-29, but a drive by Hett with 12 seconds left, and a defensive stop, gave the Hawks a 35-29 advantage at the break.
Two baskets from Galvin pulled FDU within 50-41 with 5:26 left, but Ware's baseline drive and Steele's corner trifecta claimed a 55-41 advantage for the Hawks with 4:02 showing.
After a Steele lay-in gave MU a 57-41 advantage, a Waite free held a 60-45 edge with 1:41 left. The Knights climbed within 60-50 with 57 seconds left, but two Myers Keitt foul shots made the score 62-50 with 36.4 showing.
Galvin connected for a team-high 13 points with seven rebounds, while Scott added 10 points for FDU, which hit 41.7% from the field and 7-of-21 from beyond the arc.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, February 17, when the Hawks host Saint Francis University in a Northeast Conference contest at 7:45 p.m., in the MAC.
