WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Highlighted by Marcus Ware's career-high 24 points, including 20 in the second-half, Monmouth rallied from an 11-point deficit to collect a 68-57 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the opening game of the Garden State Rivalry Series on Wednesday night in the Multipurpose Activity Center. The Hawks, who posted their largest-win of the season, improve to 7-18 overall and 3-10 in the NEC.

Monmouth, which trailed 36-30 at the break, shot 51.6% from the floor in the second half, outscored the Knights 38-21 overall and used a 23-7 run to claim a 53-50 lead with 9:02 left - a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the NEC Rivalry Week contest.

"The difference in tonight's game was the second half defensively," stated head coach Dave Calloway. "At halftime FDU only had three turnovers and they were playing well, but we didn't have the intensity defensively. After the first media timeout of the second half we started to get it going and we got back in the game quickly."

"It's a credit to the guys in the locker room and we've been coming up short lately, but we earned this win tonight and they deserve it," added Calloway.

Ware, who has scored at least 20 points in three of the Hawks' last four games, connected on a career-high nine field goals en route the Monmouth's highest individual point output of the season. Mike Myers Keitt added 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while James Hett chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Monmouth, which had 19 assists on 28 made field goals, also got eight points and seven rebounds from Ed Waite, and six points and six assists from Jesse Steele.

After taking a 4-2 edge on Ware's baseline jumper, Monmouth fell behind 15-8 behind consecutive FDU three-pointers from Mike Scott and Briahn Smith with 13:50 showing. The Hawks responded with a pair of treys of their own to climb within 15-14 after Steele and Myers Keitt connected from deep.

Scott's second trifecta put the Knights in front 20-14 with 11:30 left, but back-to-back threes from Steele and Myers Keitt once again, knotted the score at 20-20 at the 10:08 mark.

Five straight points from Terence Grier pushed FDU ahead 25-20 with 8:32 remaining, before Myers Keitt's offensive putback pulled the Hawks within 25-22, 17 seconds later.

Grier, who netted eight straight for the Knights, gave FDU a 28-22 edge on his traditional three-point play with 8:08 on the clock, but Waite's lay-in off an inbounds play trimmed the MU deficit to 30-26 with 4:58 left.

The Knights scored the next six points to take a 36-26 advantage with 2:50 left, but a dunk from Wait and Hett's layup off a feed from Myers Keitt pulled Monmouth within 36-30 at the break.

FDU opened the second stanza with the first four points to take a 40-30 lead, but Ware's dunk sparked a 12-3 run for the Hawks, as Monmouth climbed within 43-42 following back-to-back Ware jumpers, with 15:02 left.

After falling behind by 11, 43-32 on Smith's three, the Hawks rattled off a 14-3 spurt to take a 44-43 edge with 14:30 remaining, Monmouth's first lead since it was 4-2.

The Knights halted MU's run on a Grier trifecta to reclaim a lead, but Waite's lay-in knotted the game at 46-46 at 13:20. After Waite tied the score, the game was knotted two more times in the next four minutes of action, until Ware's three-point play and jumper gave the Hawks a 55-50 lead with 8:23 remaining.

During the Hawks' 23-7 run since falling behind 11, Monmouth held FDU scoreless for 4:20 of play, but John Galvin's two free throws with 5:23 left, made the score 57-54.

Ware's second three-point play of the game pushed Monmouth ahead 60-54 with 4:14 remaining, but the Knights climbed within 60-57 with 2:30 showing.

Monmouth went ahead 62-57 on Ware's lay-in, and after Kamil Svrdlik missed a pair of free throws with 1:53 left, the Hawks claimed a 64-57 lead on two Ware foul shots, and an 11-point cushion on a back-to-back Myers Keitt hoops, a 68-57 edge with 57.0 seconds left.

Calloway concluded the postgame press conference with, "To be honest with you, I'm enjoying this year more than I have in the past few years. You don't really have to motivate them, they are working hard, they are motivated and all we have to do is coach. It was nice not to have one not go down to the last second, especially when we were winning."

Svrdlik, who connected on a league-leading 54.4%  from the floor entering the game, was held to 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting from the field, while Grier and Scott added 15 points each for the Knights.

Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, when the Hawks travel to Stratis Arena for the final game of the Northeast Conference's Rivalry Week against FDU. Tip-off for the MSG-televised game is set for 2:03 p.m.