WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ –  Hosting its second National Invitation Tournament game in less than a week's time, Monmouth University's (28-8, 17-3 MAAC) men's basketball team closed out its record setting season with a setback to George Washington (25-10, 11-7 Atlantic 10) on Monday night, 87-71.

"We didn't play our best ball but that was because of their physicality and their size, so give George Washington a lot of credit," said head coach King Rice. "We had a lot of firsts happen for these guys this year, and at some point we will look back at it and know it was a pretty good year."

Despite 24 points from sophomore guard Micah Seaborn (Fort Worth, TX/Prime Prep Academy) and 16 George Washington turnovers, Monmouth could not overcome 34 percent shooting in the loss to the Colonials. The Hawks had three players in double figures while GWU had four players, including forward Tyler Cavanaugh who finished with 22 points.

Monmouth, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season champions, shattered its old Division I wins record of 21 with 28 victories, earning a top seed in the NIT. The Hawks were 11-2 at home and finished the season never losing consecutive games.

Deon Jones (Wilmington, DE/Sanford School [Towson]) started the second half off with a traditional three-point play off of George Washington's ninth turnover but the Colonials went on a 12-5 run over the next three minutes to take their largest lead of the game at the 14:58 mark of 49-38. Monmouth cut the lead to five on a pair of free throws after GWU's bench was assessed a technical with 12:25 to play.

George Washington kept the Hawks at bay over the next four minutes, never letting the home team get closer than five points. Back-to-back three pointers by Joe McDonald and Tyler Cavanaugh gave the Colonials a 63-53 lead with 6:06 to play. Je'lon Hornbeak's (Arlington, TX/Grace Prep [Oklahoma]) triple with 3:14 to go put the Hawks back within 11 at 72-61, prompting a Monmouth timeout. Despite three late buckets by Seaborn, George Washington pulled away late for the 16-point win.

The two teams slugged it out in a defensive battle with GW using 55 percent shooting over the first 5:08 to take a 14-4 lead. Seaborn sparked the offense for the Hawks, hitting a jumper and a three pointer to cut the Colonial lead to 14-9 at the under-12 media timeout. Hornbeak cut the lead to two after the Hawks forced their fifth turnover of the game, spinning away from his defender for an open layup. Monmouth trimmed the lead to two before George Washington answered with a 8-2 run over a three minute span to push the lead to 25-17. A fast break driving layup by Seaborn with 2:40 to play in the half cut the GW lead to 29-26 but the Colonials answered with back to back baskets to keep a five point advantage. Jones hit the final shot of the period and the Hawks trailed 37-33 at the break.

Jones is the lone graduate on the 2015-16 squad, which returns the rest of the roster minus the 1,000-point scoring senior.