WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (10-19, 9-7) put three in double figures, but were defeated by Canisius College (13-14, 10-5) on Friday night, 60-59 at the OceanFirst Bank Center.

A low-scoring second half saw Canisius jump to a six-point lead on a Jonathan Sanks triple and Takal Molson fast-break dunk. MU came right back to tie, with Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School) drilling a transition three to knot things at 44. The Griffs regained the slim lead and extended it to four at 4:28 after technical fouls both ways saw the visitors make three of four free throws, while MU went one for two. Sanks netted another triple a few possessions later, extending the Canisius lead to six at the 3:07 mark. Four straight Nick Rutherford (Indianapolis, IN/Allen/Florida Atlantic) points and a pair of Diago Quinn (New York, NY/Lake Forest Academy) foul shots tied the game with 1:29 to go, but Scott Hitchon converted a three-point play inside the final minute to put the Griffs up. Quinn converted a turnaround against a double team to cut it to one, and after MU forced a shot clock violation, Quinn had the final shot but was unable to convert.

MU used a 10-0 run, sparked by eight Hammond points, to take a 20-12 lead in the opening minutes. After another 7-0 Monmouth push to make it 32-23 at the 5:51 mark, Canisius scored 13 of the next 15 points to take a lead of their own in the final minute of the period. A pair of late Salnave foul shots tied things headed into the locker room, 36-all.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"Congratulations to Canisius. They played 40 minutes and we did not." – Head Coach King Rice

-MU limited Canisius to 24 second-half points, tied for the lowest this season for an MU opponent.
-Traore grabbed at least eight boards for the ninth time this season.
-Deion Hammond reached double digits in the first half, his 19^th such game of the season and 39^th of his career.
­-Diago Quinn scored in double digits for the sixth time in seven games and 21^st time in his career.
-Mustapha Traore netted 10 points, the forward's ninth career double figure game and seventh of the year.
-The all-time series between the teams now sits at 7-6 in favor of Monmouth.
-Diago Quinn played in his 130^th career game, the fourth player in school history to hit that mark. He joins ex-teammates Chris Brady, Austin Tilghman and Justin Robinson.
-MU played a home game on national television (ESPNU) for the first time since the 2017 NIT against Ole Miss.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-MU outrebounded Canisius 38-35.
-The Hawks outshot the Griffs 43.1% to 29.8%.
-Monmouth limited Canisius to 29.4% from three.
-Takal Molson led all scorers with 15 points.
-The Hawks topped Canisius in points in the paint, 30-12 and on the fast break by a 16-2 count.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth hosts Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., with Senior Day ceremonies for Diago Quinn and Trevon Gross, Jr. s