ITHACA, NY – Xander Rice had 27 points as Monmouth University Men's Basketball battled at Cornell University all night, eventually falling 91-87. Four Hawks scored in double figures, including Jaret Valencia, who topped his career-high with 19 points.
 
Cornell opened us as much as a 10-point lead in the second half, but Monmouth answered every time, using the three-pointer to stay in it. An Abdi Bashir Jr. triple cut it to six at 11:44, and MU made three jumpers, two of them triples, from Rice and Jack Collins in a 1:17 span to make it 72-69. Cornell pushed it to 10 again, only for Bashir and Collins to respond with jumpers and get it back to four. Monmouth finished through contact for and-one opportunities three times in the final 3:00, with Rice's plus-one making it a two-point game with six seconds to go. Cornell made their final two free throws to survive, 91-87.
 
Monmouth led 13-7 early before a seesaw first half ensued, with Jaret Valencia's dunk at 5:42 tying things at 32. Cornell took a seven-point lead, their largest of the period, but MU responded with a 7-2 run to end the half, cutting the deficit at the break to just two at 48-46.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"I thought that was a great college basketball game. I have all the respect in the world for Brian Earl. How they're playing, their style is tough to prepare for. I thought our kids really fought. If we would have played this well last week, it might have been a little different in the Cathedral Classic. Happy with how our kids competed, never happy with a loss but we got better tonight and we just have to keep working to keep getting better." – Head Coach King Rice
 
-Jaret Valencia topped his career high for the second game in a row, finishing with 19 points.
-Xander Rice scored the second most points in a game for his career, finishing with 27.
-Rice has scored 20+ points in six of eight games this season.
-Rice has scored in double figures in seven of eight games this year.
-Abdi Bashir scored in double figures for the second time, finishing with 12.
-Jack Collins posted his fifth game in double digits this season.
-Valencia made his first seven shots of the game, including his first career three pointer.
-Cornelius Robinson Jr. grabbed a career-best eight rebounds.
-Rice's six assists tied a season best.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth shot 53.8% from the field.
-MU limited Cornell to 18.2% from three in the second half.
-The Hawks forced 14 Cornell turnovers.
-Monmouth had 16 assists next to just eight turnovers.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth will have nine days until its next game, hosting Northern Illinois on December 9 at 2:00 p.m. The game will air on SNY and NBC Sports Philadelphia,