WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Monmouth had four players score in double-figures, led by Justin Robinson's (Lake Katrine, N.Y./Kingston) 19 points and four assists, but the Hawks fell to Manhattan, 87-76, in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's basketball action on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks, who scored a season-high 52 second-half points, fall to 12-11 overall and 8-4 in league play.
Freshman Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, Del./Archbishop Carroll) notched a new career-high with 12 points, to go along with five rebounds, while Deon Jones (Wilmington, Del./Sanford School) added 11 points and Chris Brady (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) registered 10 points behind 3-for-4 shooting.
"Tough day for us today," stated head coach King Rice. "I feel like I let the fans down. We had a great crowd out there ready to go, and we did not play very well, and that's the coach's fault. The kids did what they could do today and we got beat by a better Manhattan team."
A pair of baskets from Jones got Monmouth within a pair, 9-7 at 14:35, but a 10-1 run by the Jaspers allowed Manhattan to take a 19-8 lead on a RaShawn Stores three-pointer with 10:03 left. Another 9-0 spurt pushed the Manhattan advantage to 32-14 with 4:29 showing, and the Jaspers held a 42-24 lead at the break.
Manhattan notched the first four points out of halftime, and used a 9-2 streak to hold a 51-26 advantage with 16:28 remaining. Trailing 58-35 with 13:00 left, Collin Stewart (Glenville, N.Y./Mekeel Christian Academy) drilled a three-pointer, while a Brady three-point play, pulled Monmouth within 60-41 with 12:11 showing.
An 8-2 Monmouth run, which turned into a 17-6 spurt, capped by a Robinson three-pointer, trimmed the Hawks' deficit to 10, 68-58, with 7:40 remaining, but the Jaspers built their lead back to 15, 77-62, following a pair of Shane Richards' free throws with 5:13 on the board.
Consecutive three-point plays from Emmy Andujar increased Manhattan's advantage to 85-66 with 3:19 remaining, before an 8-0 streak from Monmouth, which included six straight from Robinson, pulled the Hawks within 85-74, with 1:02 left.
Monmouth held a 30-26 edge in points in the paint, and collected a season-high 18 second chance points from 14 offensive rebounds. The Hawks outrebounded the Jaspers 35-30.
Manhattan (11-10, 8-4 MAAC), which has won three straight, connected on 54.2% (26-48) from the field, as Andujar posted a game-high 27 points, while Richards added 20 points and eight rebounds.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, February 5 when the Hawks travel to Quinnipiac to face the Bobcats in MAAC action at 7:00 p.m.
@MonmouthBBall -- #FlyHawks
