FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Monmouth men's basketball team fell to Fairfield, 73-65, Sunday evening at Leo D. Mahoney Arena in Fairfield, Conn. Three Hawks scored in double figures, but a strong second-half performance from the Stags helped hand Monmouth its second-consecutive defeat.

Cornelius Robinson III led the Hawks with 14 points, matching his season-best, converting on 7-of-10 shots. Jack Collins scored eight points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed four rebounds to become the seventh player in program history to reach 600 career rebounds, while Jason Rivera-Torres reached double figures, scoring nine of his 13 points in the first half.

Rivera-Torres' second layup of the game gave Monmouth a 10-9 lead just over six minutes into the game. Collins and Jinup Doboul hit threes on back-to-back possessions, and Robinson III finished in the paint to give the Hawks a 20-17 edge at the midway point of the opening half. Monmouth assisted on seven of its first nine first-half field goals.

Tied at 25 with five minutes to play, four straight by the visitors sparked an 8-2 stretch to put the Hawks up four, 33-27. After the Stags got back within one, Robinson III beat the first half buzzer with a layup to send Monmouth into the intermission up three, 35-32.

Robinson III scored the first four points of the second half for Monmouth to grow the lead to five. Justin Ray connected from deep to make it 44-39 before the Stags scored nine in a row to retake the lead, 48-44. Monmouth punched back with a 9-0 run of its own, powered by six points from Dok Muordar, going back in front by five, 53-48.

Fairfield caught fire, scoring 20 of the game's next 24 points to open the largest lead of the afternoon, 68-57, with under four minutes to play. Monmouth cut it to five with two minutes to go, but a three-pointer on the ensuing possession gave the Stags a 71-63 edge with 1:20 to play, putting the contest out of reach for the Hawks.
 
Notes

• Senior Jack Collins grabbed four rebounds, giving him 602 for his career, becoming just the seventh player in program history to pass the 600-rebound mark.
• Cornelius Robinson III led Monmouth with 14 points, matching his season-best. It is the fifth time this season he scored at least 10 points, including each of the last two games off the bench.
• Jason Rivera-Torres scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds, scoring in double figures for the ninth time in 11 games this season.
• Freshman Stefanos Spartalis scored 10 points, reaching that mark for the fourth time in the last five games.
• Collins dished out 10 assists, his second time this season reaching double-digits.
• Collins started his 107th career game today, passing Corey Albano for sole possession of 10th place on the program's all-time starts list.
• Collins has hit a three-pointer in nine straight games, his longest streak since connecting from deep in 14 straight games to finish the 2023-24 season.
• Justin Ray has at least one three-pointer in 10 of the team's 11 games.
• Monmouth dropped its first game to Fairfield since 2021, snapping a three-game winning streak against the Stags.
• The Hawks' bench outscored Fairfield's, 25-9.
• Monmouth assisted on 19 of its 28 baskets, matching its season-best.

Up Next
Monmouth will return home on Wednesday, Dec. 14 to host Quinnipiac, kicking off a three-game homestand. Tipoff from the OceanFirst Bank Center is set for 7 p.m.