Final Score - OT
Monmouth (2-3, 0-0 CAA) – 71
Robert Morris (3-3, 0-0 Horizon) – 70
 
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Stefanos Spartalis hit a pair of free throws with 8.6 seconds left in the extra period as the Monmouth men's basketball team earned a 71-70 overtime victory over Robert Morris on Sunday afternoon inside the OceanFirst Bank Center.
 
The Colonials tied the game with under 30 seconds left in regulation and took a five-point lead in overtime, but the Hawks (2-3, 0-0 CAA) were able to rally and earn their first victory over RMU since 2009.
 
Monmouth made just two of its first 10 shots and found itself down 12 nearly eight minutes in, 17-5. The Hawks came out of the game's second media timeout with points on three straight possessions, highlighted by five straight from Cornelius Robinson III. The offense continued to score, as back-to-back three pointers from Jack Collins and Justin Ray preceded a Robinson steal and slam to bring Monmouth back within six, 28-22, at the 6:02 mark of the first half.
 
Spartalis scored in the post to shrink the RMU lead to four coming out of a timeout, before Jason Rivera-Torres hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 30 with just over three minutes to play. After RMU retook the lead, Rivera-Torres hit a jumper from the foul line – giving Monmouth its first lead of the game, 36-35, at the half. Spartalis led the Hawks in the opening 20 minutes with 10 points.
 
Tied at 36, a Ray long ball highlighted a quick 5-0 burst by the home squad to open up a 41-36 advantage. After the Hawks went up 45-41, RMU scored eight of the game's next 12 points to tie it at 49-49 halfway through the period.
 
After the Colonials cut it to one, 52-51, Rivera-Torres continued his strong day, scoring a driving layup to push the lead back to three at the under-eight media timeout. Out of the break, Spartalis and Ray scored on back-to-back possessions to put Monmouth up, 58-53, matching their largest lead of the game. The visitors responded with a run of their own to knot it at 58, the eighth tie of the game.
 
Spartalis hit a pair of free throws with 2:03 to play to put Monmouth back in front by two, 60-58. After the Hawks missed a free throw with 19 seconds left, Robert Morris ran the length of the floor and hit an off-balance shot to tie the game with 6.1 on the clock. Rivera-Torres was unable to connect as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to overtime knotted at 60.
 
The teams traded layups to open the extra session, but Robert Morris scored five in a row to take a 67-62 lead with 2:30 to play. Ray answered on the other end with his third three-pointer of the game, but another trey from the visitors on the ensuing possession reestablished the five point edge with two minutes on the clock. Monmouth got back within 70-69 after Ray knocked down a pair from the charity stripe with 28 seconds left. 
 
Andrew Ball forced a steal on the ensuing inbounds play, allowing Spartalis to earn his way to the free throw line with 8.6 remaining, where the freshman hit both to put the Hawks back in front, 71-70. RMU got off a pair of last second shots, but Ball soared high to grab the game-ending rebound as the buzzer sounded, giving the Hawks their second victory of the year.
 
Quotes
"Today, we learned that we're pretty resilient. We'll keep fighting until the last second. We have to clean up some things, but I'm proud of our resolve." – Head Coach King Rice
 
"Shoutout to our fans. We had a long, tough road stretch, but we came home and felt the energy from our fans. We needed one stop to come out of here with the win and we were confident that we were going to do so." – Guard Jason Rivera-Torres
 
Notes

• Stefanos Spartalis scored 18 for his fourth double-digit game this season. The freshman from Greece has 18 points in each of his last two games and is averaging a team-high 15 points per game.
• Jason Rivera-Torres tallied his first career double-double, going for 16 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. It is the first time in his career that Rivera-Torres grabbed double-digit boards.
• After scoring a career-high 25 points against Syracuse on Tuesday, sophomore guard Justin Ray added 18 against the Colonials, recording back-to-back double figure scoring games for the first time in his career.
• Cornelius Robinson III reached 10 points for the first time in his Monmouth career.
• Senior Jack Collins secured 11 boards to give him 575 for his career, moving within one of seventh place on the program's all-time rebounding list.
• Monmouth had four players reach double figures for the first time this season.
• The Hawks held RMU to 25.0 percent from beyond the arc, the lowest opponent percentage from three this season. 
• Monmouth earned its first victory over the Colonials in the last 10 meetings between the two schools. The last Hawks victory in the series came in 2009.
• Sunday's back-and-forth affair featured 11 ties and five lead changes.

 
Up Next
Monmouth will head to Easton, Pa., next weekend for the Lafayette Classic to face Ball State, Le Moyne and Lafayette from Nov. 28-30.