BETHLEHEM, PA – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (0-7) led in the second half and fought to the final buzzer, with Myles Foster netting a career-best 21 points, but came up just short at Lehigh University (4-2) Sunday night, 80-76.
 
Lehigh led by eight early in the second half but Monmouth never gave in, posting a 9-0 run with three different players scoring to take a 57-56 lead at 8:46. Amaan Sandhu's free throw at 5:46 gave MU a 61-60 lead, and after the home team took a four-point lead again, Tahron Allen finished twice in a row in the lane to knot things at 68. Allen then answered consecutive Lehigh baskets to keep things square before Evan Taylor's three at 1:43 gave LU the three-point edge. Monmouth was able to get within two several times in the final minutes, but the Mountain Hawks made their free throws to close out the four-point contest.
 
After a back-and-forth early stretch, Monmouth used an 11-0 run with Andrew Ball throwing down a lob and Foster finishing twice at the rim to give MU a 24-18 lead. Collins' late triple put Monmouth up one with 1:28 to go in the half, but Lehigh's Evan Taylor gave the Mountain Hawks the halftime advantage 39-38.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"That was our best 40 minutes of the year. Our kids are playing extremely hard, we just weren't able to get it all the way finished tonight. We had a lot of chances today, we have to shoot free throws better and I don't like losing but we played a lot better tonight, we looked like a team that has a chance to get better and that's all I'm focusing on right now." – Head Coach King Rice
 
"I'm happy that Myles [Foster] played like himself. We slowed down, we took care of the ball better and it gave us a chance at the end. They made a couple more plays than us down the stretch and we fell a little bit short but overall we played a lot better and we'll continue to get better." – Rice on Monmouth's performance at Lehigh
 
-Myles Foster scored a career-best 21 points.
-Foster's 21 is the most in a game by a Hawk since George Papas had 23 against Saint Peter's on February 25, 2022.
-Klemen Vuga scored in double figures in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
-Tahron Allen scored in double figures in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
-10 of Allen's 12 points came in the second half, his second straight game with 10+ points in the final 20 minutes.
-MU's 76 points is their season high.
-Jack Collins grabbed four steals for the second game in a row.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth had 13 assists to just 12 turnovers.
-MU shot 49.2% from the field next to 48% for Lehigh.
-MU was better off turnovers, 30-10.
-Monmouth topped Lehigh in the paint, 44-24.
-Four Hawks scored in double digits.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth is at Rider for an 8:00 p.m. tip with the Broncs on ESPN+.