ALBANY, NY– Monmouth's men's basketball team advanced to the MAAC semifinals with a quarterfinal win over Rider Friday night at the Times Union Center, 59-48. The MU defense led the way, holding Rider to 34.8% from the floor and forcing 21 turnovers on the night. MU moves on to the semifinals on Sunday after picking up its 26th win of the season
"I'm very proud of my team today for coming out in the tournament and getting a win," said head coach King Rice. "Our defense carried us today and that makes the coaching staff very happy."
Leading by 12 coming out of halftime, the Hawks outscored Rider 7-0 over the first four-plus minutes, earning a 55-34 advantage at the first media break behind three buckets from Chris Brady (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields). The Broncs tried to climb back in it with a pair of threes from Xavier Lundy but with 6:40 to play, Monmouth held a 69-51 lead. Monmouth opened up a 75-55 lead on Austin Tilghman's (Wilmington, DE/Archbishop Carroll) 10th point on a strong drive to the rim, eventually winning by an 11-point margin.
Monmouth sprinted out to a 9-0 lead, including a pair of drives by Josh James (Greenburgh, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) and a contested three pointer by Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, NY/Kingston) while the defense kept Rider off the board for the first 4:29 of the game. The Broncs responded with an 8-4 run of their own but Monmouth was able kept pace earning a 21-11 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the first. The Hawks exploded on a 16-7 run to balloon the lead to 37-18 with 4:31 left in the first half. Rider regained ground by outscoring MU 14-7 over the final four minutes but Monmouth led 44-32 at the break. Nine of 10 Hawks scored in the first 20 minutes.
MU was led by Micah Seaborn (Fort Worth, TX/Prime Prep Academy) in scoring with 14, while Brady contributed 12 points and nine rebounds. Tilghman also worked into double-digits with 12 and Robinson added a season-best eight steals.
Rider got 14 from Lundy on four triples, with the Broncs shooting 34.8% from the floor, 38.1% from deep and 61.5% from the foul line. MU outscored Rider in second-chance points 16-5 and 24-14 in the paint.
The Hawks take on the winner of the #4/#5 game between Fairfield and Saint Peter's on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at the Times Union Center on ESPN3.
