WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Men's Basketball hit five threes in the final 5:24 to secure its seventh consecutive home win, 85-77 over Hampton University Saturday. Xander Rice finished with a game-high 25 points, leading four Hawks in double figures.
 
MU led by six in the early stages of the second half, sparked by Jakari Spence, who scored all 11 of his points in the final period, but Hampton responded with a run of their own to go up one. With Hampton up five, Abdi Bashir Jr. knocked home his first three of the half to cut it to two Hampton pushed their lead back to six at the final media timeout, but a Rice three-point play preceded another Bashir triple at 3:23 to get even. Bashir put the Hawks up one at 2:29 with his third three in a row, and after Hampton retook the lead, Rice put the Hawks up for good with a three at 1:59. The dagger came from freshman Cornelius Robinson Jr., who nailed a corner three with 35 seconds left to put the Hawks up seven.
 
Hampton led by as many as five in the opening half, but Monmouth used an 18-6 run that saw five different Hawks score to make it 31-24 MU at 4:41. Rice finished the half with 12 points, and his triple at 1:43 put MU up four before Monmouth took a 37-35 lead into the locker room.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"We didn't have our best game today but we did enough to win and that's a credit to these kids and that's a credit to them keeping their heads in the right place and their talent. Thank you to all the fans that came out, we're just excited to get that one done." – Head Coach King Rice
 
"I've seen our young guys put in so much work, from the summer to now and I see where they can take this. As they continue to get better, the sky is the limit for this team." – Guard Xander Rice
 
-MU has won seven games in a row at home.
-Xander Rice topped the 20-point mark for the 15^th time this season.
-Jakari Spence matched his season high with 11 points.
-MU beat Hampton in West Long Branch for the first time ever.
-Abdi Bashir posted his third career game in double figures.
-Nikita Konstantynovskyi scored in doubles for the eighth game in a row.
-Monmouth started the same lineup for the 19^th time in a row.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
 
-Monmouth and Hampton both shot over 45% from the field.
-The Hawks were better off turnovers, 14-11.
-MU outrebounded Hampton, 41-29.
-The Blue and White won in the paint, 46-32.
-There were 10 ties and 11 lead changes.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth visits Stony Brook on Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. The game will air on SNY and FloSports, and on the radio via the Monmouth Digital Network.