CHARLESTON, SC – Xander Rice scored a career-high 34 points and Nikita Konstantynovski had a double-double, but Monmouth University Men's Basketball fell Saturday afternoon at College of Charleston, 94-83 at TD Arena.
 
A 13-4 Hawks run got the deficit to 13 in the second half with 9:17 to go when Jack Collins converted a layup after a steal. The Cougars pushed that back to 23 but MU never quit, going on a 17-4 run led by Rice and Jack Collins to trim it to nine at 90-81 with 2:17 to play. Charleston converted foul shots down the stretch to hang on to the 94-83 win.
 
A back-and-forth first few minutes saw Charleston eventually open a 16-point lead before Monmouth battled back, with Rice leading the way. His four-point play at 3:55 cut it to an eight-point game at 37-29 before Charleston closed the half with a 14-point edge.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"They got going a little bit but then we came back. We learned a lot from this game. I told our guys I was so proud because we never gave up, we kept fighting." -Head Coach King Rice
 
-Xander Rice scored a career-high 34 points.
-Nikita Konstantynovskyi scored in double figures for the seventh time this season.
-Konstantynovskyi registered his fourth double-double of the season.
-Jack Collins dished out six assists to set a career high.
-Jakari Spence posted a seven-assist afternoon, a season-high and one off a career high.
-Xander Rice topped the 20-point mark for the 12^th game this season and fourth in a row.
-Jaret Valencia recorded three blocks, his fifth 3+ block game of the season.
-Monmouth made its first ever visit to Charleston.
-The Hawks started the same lineup for the 16^th game in a row.
-Brothers Corey Miller and Charleston's Jack Miller competed against each other for the first time in college.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth posted 16 assists to six turnovers.
-Monmouth was better from three, 41% to 31%.
-The Hawks were better on the move, 20-9.
-MU and Charleston each made 11 threes.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth is at Drexel on Thursday, January 18 at 7:00 p.m. The game will air nationally on CBS Sports Network and on the radio via the Monmouth Digital Network.