WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth had a late chance to tie the game after trailing by 11 in the second half, but couldn't get even as Niagara topped MU on Sunday afternoon, 96-91. Five Hawks worked into double figures in the defeat. Kahlil Dukes netted a career-best 37 for the Purple Eagles.

Niagara scored the first eight points of the second half to take the lead for good, erasing a halftime deficit. At 9:55, Dukes hit a long three after Marvin Prochet knocked one in from deep to make it 78-67 Niagara. MU battled back, getting it to four several times before Dukes got to the line at 3:39 to make it 88-78. Down seven in the final minutes, Louie Pillari (Tinton Falls, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) knocked in a three to cut it to 92-88 with 1:47 left. Melik Martin (York, PA/York Catholic) hit twice from the line to make it a one-point game with 28.8 to go, and after Prochet hit two free throws, Martin's long attempt for the tie came up short and the visitors held on for the five-point win.

In a first half that featured five ties and six lead changes, Martin led the way with 10 points as the Hawks took a lead to the locker room. Kaleaf Tate gave Niagara its largest lead of the period at 6:33, hitting a wing three after an offensive rebound to make it 34-29. MU cut into that lead, and Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist) knocked in a long three ball with 1:01 to go to tie the game. Following a stop, Martin buried a foul line jumper to surpass double-digits and give the Hawks a 44-42 lead at the intermission.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"You got to give Case [Niagara head coach Chris Casey] and Niagara a lot of credit. Dukes was incredible, kind of made me have flashbacks of some of the dudes we had down here for a while the way he was hitting all those shots." – King Rice

"I feel bad for my kids, we're just good enough right now to fall a little bit short." – King Rice

-Five Hawks worked into double figures for the second time this season and first since 11/25 vs. Penn.
-Deion Hammond scored 14 points, sixth in a row in double figures.
-Louie Pillari netted 18 points, his sixth double-digit effort this season.
-Austin Tilghman's 13 rebounds led everyone in the game, and was one off his career-high.
-Melik Martin scored 10 first-half points and finished with a career-high 17, his third game of the year in double digits.
-Martin hit multiple three pointers in a single game for the first time in his career, finishing with three triples.
-The lineup of Tilghman, Hammond, Salnave, Martin and Quinn started for the second game in a row.
-Mustapha Traore, George Papas and Micah Seaborn all did not play for MU.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth was outshot 44.3% to 42.5%.
-The Hawks won the battle in the paint 32-22.
-MU outscored Niagara's bench 34-16.
-The first half featured five ties and six lead changes, with just one of each in the second half.
-MU falls to 3-8 in the league, while Niagara moves to 8-4 in conference.
-MU outrebounded Niagara 43-42.
-Kahlil Dukes scored a career-high 37 points, the most by an MU opponent this season.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth is at Iona on Thursday night for a 7:00 p.m. tip with the Gaels on ESPN3.