WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – The Monmouth men's basketball team opened conference play with a 68-65 loss to Campbell on Wednesday inside the OceanFirst Bank Center.
 
Jason Rivera-Torres scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Defensively, the Hawks (6-8, 0-1 CAA) had 11 blocks, matching their season best. The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than seven at any point.
 
Six early points from Dok Mourdar, making his first start of the season, gave the Hawks an early 11-10 lead after six minutes. Justin Ray hit Monmouth's second three-pointer of the opening minutes to break a 15-15 tie at the 11:25 mark, becoming the fifth scorer of the first half for the Hawks.
 
Campbell went on a 9-3 spurt, but the Hawks scored six in a row to go back up by three, 27-24. Rivera-Torres converted a jumper to give Monmouth a 31-30 lead, breaking a two-minute scoring drought and becoming the game's first double-digit scorer. Ray and Mourdar finished in the paint on the next two Monmouth possessions, giving the Hawks a 35-30 edge at the half. The five point lead was the largest of the game by either side in the opening 20 minutes.
 
Ray scored the Hawks' first five points of the second half, keeping Monmouth in front early in the period. Campbell got within one, 51-50, but Monmouth responded with six straight to extend the lead back to seven, 57-50, with under eight minutes to play. The Camels rattled off six in a row to get back within a point, and trailed by two, 60-58, with 3:30 left in the contest.
 
Out of the final media timeout, Campbell scored four in a row to take a 62-60 lead with under two minutes on the clock. Jack Collins tied the game at the free throw line, but a foul on the ensuing possession sent Campbell to the stripe, where the visitors went back in front by a pair. 
 
Rivera-Torres hit one-of-two from the line, keeping Monmouth down one with 45 seconds to play. More free throws gave the visitors a three-point edge before Mourdar's layup made it 66-65 with 13.1 seconds left. Campbell made one more at the stripe to go up two, before Collins missed a potential go-ahead three with two seconds left. The Camels drained a free throw to close the contest, icing out the 68-65 victory.
 
Notes

• Jason Rivera-Torres scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, earning his third double-double of the season. It was also the 12th time in 14 games this season that he scored in double figures. Rivera-Torres is averaging a team-best 14.6 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season.
• Rivera-Torres became the second Hawk to tally a double-double in a CAA opener. Myles Foster had 12 points and 11 rebounds against UNCW in the school's first-ever CAA contest in 2022-23.
• Justin Ray followed up his 17-point effort in the non-conference finale against Lehigh with 16 points on Wednesday. The sophomore has eight double-figure scoring games.
• Dok Mourdar set a new season-best with 12 points, falling just two points short of his career best.
• Jack Collins scored 10 points and dished out eight assists.
• Monmouth blocked 11 Campbell shots, matching its season best. It is the second time this season the Hawks have recorded at least 10 blocked shots. 

 
Up Next
Monmouth will open 2026 on the road against Towson on Jan. 3 in Towson, Md. Tipoff from SECU Arena is set for 6 p.m.