HAMDEN, CT – Monmouth University men's basketball stormed back from down 14 with under 1:30 to go, scoring 17 points inside the final 54 seconds including Ray Salnave's (Elmont, NY/Benjamin N. Cardozo) game-tying drive with 3.4 seconds left before falling in two overtimes to Quinnipiac University Thursday, 89-83. Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School) led MU with a career-best 27 points, including nine in the final minute of regulation. MU falls to 2-14, 1-2 in the MAAC while QU improves to 7-7, 2-1 in the league.

After Marcus McClary (Linden, NJ/The Patrick School) gave the Hawks the lead with 1:33 to go in double overtime, Rich Kelly answered with a three to give QU a two-point lead with 35 ticks left before Salnave split a pair from the line, making it 82-81. After foul shots both ways, Salnave drove with a chance to tie before being whistled for an offensive foul with one second to go, and QU made their foul shots to secure the victory.

Monmouth held the lead at times in the first overtime, but Cameron Young tied it from the free throw line with 33 seconds to go and MU was unable to convert a bucket in the closing seconds, sending the game to a second OT.

Trailing by 14 with 1:19 to go, a Diago Quinn (New York, NY/Lake Forest Academy) layup cut it to 12. After a Salnave lay-in with 54 seconds left, Hammond ripped off nine straight points, including a four-point play on a banked-in triple with 32 seconds to play to make it a one-point game. Twice, Quinnipiac went down and made both free throws with Salnave answering in between before the Bobcats finally missed one, opening the door for Salnave to cap the wild comeback with a drive with three seconds left to extend things to OT. All told, MU scored 17 points in the final 54 seconds to get even, forcing four turnovers in the process.

Monmouth fell behind 8-1, but seven consecutive points from Hammond got things even. A back-and-forth period saw QU take its largest lead of the half at nine after Rich Kelly converted a three-point play. The Hawks twice got it back within five until freshman Tyrese Williams connected on his fourth three of the half from the corner in the closing seconds to make it an eight-point QU lead at the intermission.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"Give Quinnipiac credit. They did just enough to win. I thought our kids did a great job fighting all the way back." – Head Coach King Rice

-MU ended the game on a 17-5 run after trailing by 12 with 54 seconds left.
-Deion Hammond scored a career-high 27 points, the most by a Hawk this season.
-Hammond scored nine points in four seconds.
-Nick Rutherford scored in double figures for the first time in his Monmouth career.
-Hammond's 10 field goals made were the most of his career.
-MU put four players in double figures for the second time this year (Princeton).
-Monmouth has now played two overtime games this season.
-Diago Quinn has now scored in double figures in four games in a row.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-MU outscored Quinnipiac's bench 18-0.
-The Hawks forced 24 QU turnovers.
-Monmouth scored 35 points off turnovers, compared to 14 for the Bobcats.
-52 of the Hawks' 83 points came in the paint.
-MU narrowly outshot QU from the field, 44.2% to 44.1%.
-The teams were dead even at 43 in rebounding.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth returns home to host Manhattan on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.