BOILING SPRINGS, NC- Monmouth University (5-6, 3-3 Big South) wrapped up the 2015 season with a 23-9 win over Gardner-Webb University (4-7, 2-4).

The Hawks finish their second season in the Big South in third place with a 3-3 conference mark.

"It was a great way to end the season, to finish third in the Big South in only our second season says a lot about our players," said Monmouth Head Coach Kevin Callahan. "Today was a terrific defensive effort. There were a number of times we were backed up deep in our own territory and we held them to field goals or forced a fourth down stop. I'm very happy with the way the kids played and kept rising to the occasion."

The MU defense forced two turnovers and held Gardner-Webb to three field goals on four redzone trips. Monmouth sophomore Mike Basile (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) set the school record for tackles in a season, finishing with 10 stops on the day and 119 for season. Basile passed former Hawk safety Aaron Edwards in the first half with this sixth tackle of the game. Junior Teddie Martinez (Baltimore, MD) had a career-high nine tackles as Monmouth held GWU to 87 yards passing while sacking Bulldog QB Tyrell Maxwell three times.

Freshman quarterback Cody Williams (Springfield, MA/Springfield Central) threw 148 yards with two touchdowns on 11-of-17 passing. Freshman wideout Ugo Ezemma (Nanuet, NY/St. Joe's Montvale) had four receptions for 33 yards while junior running back Lavon Chaney (Edgewater, MD/South River) led the ground game with 51 yards on 18 carries.

Monmouth wasted no time getting in the endzone, going up 7-0 on a 49 yard touchdown pass from Cody Williams to Darren Ambush. Williams hit Ambush in stride on the left side of the field and the junior made four defenders miss while clipping the pylon.

Junior Zach Welch (Middletown, CT/Middletown) put the Hawks up 14-0 after driving in from two yards out with 32 seconds left in the first half. Monmouth converted on third and long when Williams hit Ezemma over the middle for 17 yards.

After a mostly scoreless second quarter, GWU capped an 18-play 56 yard drive with a 35 yard Paul Schumacher field goal, setting the halftime score at 14-3.

Gardner-Webb cut the Monmouth lead to 14-9 on a pair of field goals, both coming off distasterous special teams plays by the Hawks. A botched catch on a punt led to Gardner-Webb's first field goal after the Runnin' Bulldogs took over at the MU 15. On the ensuing kickoff Monmouth fumbled and Gardner-Webb recovered, giving its offense the ball on the MU 21. Each time the Hawks defense was able to keep GWU out of the endzone, yielding a pair of short field goals.

Monmouth added to its lead on a 36 yard pass from Williams to Reggie White Jr. with 1:07 remaining in the third quarter. The redshirt freshman laid out for the pass that put the Hawks ahead 21-9.

Late in the fourth quarter freshman Tre Nelson (Palmerton, PA/Palmerton) blitzed off the backside and dropped GWU signal caller Tyrell Maxwell for a 7 yard loss and a safety, ballooning the Monmouth lead to 23-9 with 2:44 remaining. Senior Joe Johnson (Manchester, NJ/Manchester) locked up the win with his third interception of the year on the second to last play of the game.

Gardner-Webb held a 246-239 advantage in yardage while going 5 of 19 on third down. Monmouth was just 1 of 10 on third down and committed just one turnover which came on special teams.

Maxwell finished 12-of-38 with a pair of interceptions and three sacks. He led all rushers with 79 yards, including a long run of 25. Tight end Mike Estes finished with five receptions for 33 yards. Linebacker Aziz Higgins led the all players with 12 tackles.

Quotes:

On getting linebacker John Sieczkowski back
"John has been battling a knee injury the past few weeks so just to get him back on the field was good to see.I thought he made several key plays throughout the course of the afternoon and I thought it was good for our defense to see him out there. I was happy he was able to contribute for us."

On scoring 21 points against Gardner-Webb's defense
"We knew coming into the game that Gardner-Webb was a tough defensive unit and give points away grudgingly. We knew going into the game that running the ball would be difficult so we would have to get some explosive plays on the perimeter and to get the ball to the receivers. Reggie and Darren Ambush had big catches for touchdowns and that's exactly how we wanted the game to go."

On Mike Basile's Sophomore Season
"If you look at what he did as a freshman and to say he was going to top that in year two, there are people who would be skeptical about that. I thought Mike had an outstanding sophomore year was another significant step in his development. He's a terrific player, he's instinctive and he always puts himself in a position to make plays.