WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University's men's basketball (22-6, 14-3 MAAC) team had its eight-game win streak snapped by Iona College (16-10, 13-5 MAAC) on Friday night, dropping an 83-67 decision to the Gaels. Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, NJ/Kingston) led Monmouth in scoring with 21 points, while A.J. English led all scorers with 31. Monmouth hosted a crowd of 4,522, a MAC facility record.
“We've been on a good, good streak but all the credit goes to Iona for how they played tonight,” said head coach King Rice.
Chris Brady (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields)'s dunk on Monmouth's opening possession of the second half sparked a 7-4 run in the opening minutes of the period but Iona kept pace from behind the arc, leading 55-35 with 15:20 left in the contest. Josh James' (Greenburgh, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) triple was answered by an Ibn Muhammed basket. Back-to-back Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, DE/Archbishop Carroll [PA]) buckets after Muhammad was hit with a flagrant foul put Monmouth back 17, 61-44.
The Hawks closed to 14 over the next nine minutes, including two strong drives from Tilghman. MU then cut the Iona lead to 11 on Micah Seaborn (Fort Worth, TX/Prime Prep Academy)'s second consecutive three pointer with 4:11 to play, making it 69-58.
Iona's AJ English answered with a shot from long range that gave the senior his 25th point of the night and Iona a 72-58 lead with 3:43 to play. Monmouth would close to 11 on a Robinson three-pointer with 3:27 remaining and immediately forced a turnover in the back court. MU turned it over shortly after and Isaiah Williams converted a layup to extend the lead back to 13. MU would not get closer, eventually falling for the first time this season at home.
Monmouth committed 11 first-half turnovers and shot just 28% from the floor as Iona built a 19-point lead heading into the break.
The teams went back and forth over the first four minutes with Robinson's first triple of the night breaking an eight-all tie to put Monmouth ahead 11-8. Iona answered with an 11-3 run of its own over the next 4:30 to take a 19-14 advantage with 11:21 left in the first frame. Monmouth turned it over on five possessions and went 7:14 without a bucket until Robinson drove through three Gaels and hit a layup, but Iona's lead had widened to 29-16. After the Iona lead grew to as much as 41-20, Monmouth hit a pair of late shots to cut the halftime deficit to 44-25.
English scored 31 while Aaron Rountree added 13 and Deyshonee Much scored 11. Jordan Washington also worked into double-figures with 10 as Iona shot 46.3% from the field.
Robinson led the Hawks with 21, while Tilghman added 15 on 6-11. Seaborn finished with 12, and Brady and Robinson tied for the team-high with eight rebounds apiece. MU shot 30.7% on the night.
The Hawks are back in action Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. for a conference matchup with Saint Peter's at the Yanitelli Center.
