WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth Basketball was defeated in the final minute by Princeton on Saturday afternoon at the OceanFirst Bank Center, 60-57.  Four Hawks worked into double-figures, including Louie Pillari (Tinton Falls, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy), who led the way with 13 points.

Devin Cannady's three with 40 seconds to go proved to be the difference, giving Princeton a 58-55 lead that they would hold on to. Cannady scored the Tiger's final eight points, and hit three triples in the final 3:38. Monmouth did not trail until the first Cannady triple, holding a lead of 12 points after a Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School) triple at the 14:42 point of the second half.

MU led by seven at the break, their largest halftime lead of the season. The Blue and White led by as many as 11 when Pillari made a triple at 12:27, and took a 12-point lead at 1:10 on a pair of Mustapha Traore (Philadelphia, PA/The Phelps School) foul shots. MU took a 27-20 lead into the locker room.  

NOTES AND QUOTES
"You have to take your hat off to Princeton, I think Mitch is a great coach. We knew it would be a battle like this and their main dude hits three threes down the stretch. We didn't get out to him hard enough, he shoots him and they go in so a lot of credit to Princeton. With our team, we keep finding ways to not finish and we're going to keep working hard. I thought we played a lot better today, the kids fought, we've been fighting teams and we thought today we might get over the hump but we have to get more together as a group. If we can get together enough, some things will turn and go our way." – Head Coach King Rice

-Monmouth led at halftime for the second time this season.
-MU's seven-point halftime margin was their largest this year.
-Louie Pillari posted his 14^th career game in double figures and second of the season.
-Monmouth did not miss a free throw until Diago Quinn's miss on the back end of a one-and-one with 11:45 to go.
-Monmouth is now 5-13 all-time against Princeton.
-Louie Pillari returned to the starting lineup after a one-game hiatus.
-MU returned home for the first time in 18 days, playing in West Long Branch for the first time since opening night.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Each team shot 38% from the field.
-MU limited Princeton to 27.6% from the three-point line.
-MU outrebounded Princeton 35-27.
-The Hawks topped Princeton on the fast break, 13-12.
-The Blue and White were a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line in the opening half.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth takes on Kentucky at Rupp Arena on Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. on the SEC Network.