WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Monmouth, which connected on 53.7% from the field overall and was paced by Marcus Ware's 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting and Mike Myers Keitt's 13 points and seven rebounds, defeated Mount St. Mary's 73-59 in Northeast Conference action on Thursday night in the MAC.

"I am just glad for our kids," stated head coach King Rice, who earned his first career conference victory. "We wanted to outcompete Mount St. Mary's for 40 minutes. It was a total team effort and I feel that our kids competed for 40 minutes. We were very fortunate to come out on top, and I just take my hat off to Marcus and all the guys that played in the game because they really did a great job tonight."

The Hawks, now 1-2 in league play, hit 64.0% (16-25) in the first half in the home win, as Jesse Steele added nine points and eight assists (17 assists in the last two games), and Ed Waite contributed eight points, seven rebounds and three steals. Dion Nesmith notched nine points, while Andrew Nicholas chipped in five points, six boards, three steals and two assists for the Hawks.

"I just know that I have to help my team on the defensive end first, and then on the offensive end," added Ware, who notched his first double-digit game of the season. "I just tried to be aggresive tonight and finish strong around the hole."

The Mount, which opened the scoring with a Julian Norfleet three-pointer, scored six straight baskets in the paint to hold a 15-9 lead at 13:24, before a Myers Keitt three-pointer from the corner pulled the Hawks within 15-12 with 12:22 remaining in the half.

Consecutive Myers Keitt jumpers allowed MU to climb within 18-16 but a pair of Ja'Colby Wells hoops claimed a 24-18 advantage for the Mountaineers with 8:00 left.

The Hawks responded with an 8-0 spurt over the next 1:36 to claim their first lead, 26-24, on a Ware lay-in off a feed from Steele.

MSM reclaimed a short lead on a Kelvin Parker trey, but the Blue and White rattled off another 8-0 spurt, making the total run 14-3, capped by Austin Tillotson's baseline drive, to grab a 34-27 advantage with 2:42 showing.

Monmouth opened the second half on another 8-0 run, which included a pair of Nesmith lay-ups, to take a 43-31 lead with 16:34 left. The Mount, which was held scoreless in the opening 4:40 of the second stanza, climbed within 43-36 on Parker's three-point play.

Phill Wait's short finger roll put the Hawks ahead 48-38 with 13:27 left, but the Mount answered with five straight, including Norfleet's trifecta to make the tally 48-43 with 12:19 showing.

Monmouth's fourth 8-0 of the contest gave the Hawks a 56-43 advantage, when Nesmith drilled a corner three-pointer with 9:23 left, while Tillotson's fast break lay-up off a feed from Waite, following a Waite steal, put the Blue and White ahead 63-48 at 7:06.

Four straight points from Danny Thompson allowed the Mountaineers to climb within 63-52 with 5:48 remaining, but a Waite tip-in put MU in front 65-52 with 4:25 showing.

The Hawks, who held the Mount without a field goal over the final 6:50 claimed a 68-55 edge on a pair of Tillotson foul shots with 1:48 left.

The Mount was led by Norfleet's game-high 20 points, while Thompson added a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Mountaineers, who held a 37-30 edge off the glass, surrendered 23 points off turnovers to the Hawks.

Myers Keitt, who hit 5-of-6 of his field goal attempts off the bench, added, "Coach says 'sometimes things change, but don't let it change your game. Just go in there and play hard.' I feel like that's what Ed and I did, just went in and played hard and tried to contribute to get the win."

Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, January 7 when the Hawks host Wagner in a televised Northeast Conference contest in the MAC, at noon, on MSG+.