HAMPTON, VA – Monmouth University Men's Basketball went on an 18-0 run to trim a 20-point deficit to just two, but Hampton University held off the Hawks comeback bid Thursday night at the Convocation Center, 86-81. Myles Foster led Monmouth with 21 points, while Klemen Vuga had 20.
 
A quick 7-0 Hampton run had the Pirates up 76-56 with 8:35 remaining. Jack Collins began the Monmouth run, hitting a three in the corner before four straight foul shots for the Blue and White. Collins then scored on the move off a steal, and buried a wing triple to force a Hampton timeout with the run at 12-0. Out of the timeout, MU scored on its next three possessions, with Foster making two and Klemen Vuga converting another, all inside the paint, to make the run 18-0 and cut the deficit to two. MU had a shot from Vuga to tie that was off the mark, and Hampton made it a four-point game before the Hawks trimmed it to two again. MU had a stop with the shot clock nearly expired, but a late foul call sent Hampton to the line, and the Pirates converted from the stripe down the stretch to hold on.
 
Trailing by eight, Jarvis Vaughan hit a three and Myles Ruth converted a three-point play to make it 20-18. A 10-0 Hampton run made it 30-18 but MU didn't give in, with Jayden Doyle knocking in a three before consecutive buckets from Foster and Tahron Allen trimmed it to 37-36. MU went to the break trailing 45-40.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"I thought our kids fought extremely hard. We battled all the way back and just came up a little bit short. It's easy to come back, hard to come back and win. Give Hampton a lot of credit, they held us off and made their free throws down the stretch." – Head Coach King Rice
 
-Myles Foster posted his third 20+ point game of the season.
-Klemen Vuga scored 20 points for the third time in four games.
-Jakari Spence dished out a career-best eight assists.
-Jack Collins scored in double digits for the 15^th time this season.
-Jayden Doyle made his first three since 11/27 at Lehigh.
-Spence became the 24^th Hawk to reach 100 assists in a single season.
-This was Monmouth's first ever visit to Hampton.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth shot 47% from the field.
-MU outrebounded Hampton 30-28.
-The Hawks dominated the paint, 44-24.
-Monmouth was better off turnovers, 22-11.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth wraps up the regular season Saturday with a visit to William & Mary at 2:00 p.m.