PHILADELPHIA, PA – Monmouth University Men's Basketball got 27 points from Xander Rice and led for over 27 minutes, but were held off by first-place Drexel University Thursday night, 78-74.
 
A second half that featured 37 combined free throws saw Monmouth's largest lead at seven after a tough Rice drive at 13:24. Drexel answered to get even and the game went back-and -forth for the remainder, with Abdi Bashir Jr. putting the Hawks up with a corner three at 3:30. Drexel's Justin Moore put the Dragons back up with a triple, and the Dragons converted four foul shots inside the final minute. Rice's three with 11 seconds left gave MU life within two, but Mate Okros made two free throws to secure the win for Drexel.
 
Monmouth opened up red hot, making six of their first seven shots and scoring on their first six possessions. MU hit three triples in under four minutes, with Jack Collins, Jaret Valencia and Abdi Bashir Jr. getting involved to push MU's lead to 15 at 9:13 of the opening half. Drexel was able to work it back to two before MU scored five in a row to ultimately lead by five at the break.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"Tough game, these road games got us. We're showing we belong. Everyone has to come back to our building now. We've been playing well at home but we haven't there for a while so hopefully Saturday we'll get it ramped back up." – Head Coach King Rice
 
-Xander Rice topped 20 points for the 14^th time this season.
-Klemen Vuga led MU in rebounding for the first time this season, finishing with five.
-MU made six of its first seven shots to open the game.
-Monmouth matched its season low with six turnovers for the second game in a row.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outshot Drexel 46% to 38%.
-The Hawks and Dragons combined to shoot 50 free throws.
-MU was better from three, 36% to 32%.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth returns home for the first time since January 8 on Saturday to host Hampton at 2:00 p.m. The game will air on FloSports and tickets are available at MonmouthHawks.com.