ATLANTA – The Monmouth men's basketball team fell to Georgia Tech, 79-67, Saturday afternoon at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.
 
The Hawks (5-5, 0-0 CAA) battled throughout, holding a lead with under five minutes to play, but the Yellow Jackets (6-4, 0-0 ACC) were able to pull away in the final minutes to snap Monmouth's two-game winning streak.
 
Both teams started slow offensively, with Monmouth taking a 12-11 edge just under eight minutes into the game. The Yellow Jackets rattled off nine in a row to grow their largest lead of the half, 20-11, before Jack Collins connected from deep to end the run.
 
Justin Ray's three got Monmouth back within two, 24-22, and two minutes later, the Hawks inched back within one off Jason Rivera-Torres' first three of the game.
 
Rivera-Torres hit another long ball from the right wing and scored in the paint on the next possession to put the Hawks back on top late in the period, 29-26, but the Jackets scored five in the final minute of the half, taking a 32-31 lead into the halftime break.
 
Four early second-half points from Rivera-Torres helped Monmouth tie the game at 39 before Collins was pure from the top of the key to put the Hawks up three. After a Georgia Tech basket, Cornelius Robinson III got behind the defense and finished on the fast break, forcing a timeout from the home side with Monmouth up 44-41.
 
Georgia Tech rallied to take a 47-46 lead, but Ray's jumper from the right elbow put the Hawks right back on top. The 20th lead change of the afternoon gave Georgia Tech a two point lead, 54-52, with just under 10 minutes to play. The back-and-forth affair continued, with Monmouth going up two before six straight from the Yellow Jackets gave them a four point edge which increased to a five point lead, 64-59, going into the final media break.
 
The home team took over in the final stretch, outscoring Monmouth 15-8 in the waning minutes to close out the victory.
 
Notes

• Freshman Stefanos Spartalis led Monmouth with 14 points, his seventh game this season in double figures. In the team's three games against high-major opponents this season, the freshman from Greece is averaging 16 points per game.
• Sophomore guard Justin Ray scored 13 points. He is third on the team with 12.7 points per game.
• Jason Rivera-Torres scored 11 points to go along with eight rebounds, scoring double figures for the eighth game this season and fourth contest in a row.
• Jack Collins started his 106th career game today, matching Corey Albano for 10th on the program's all-time starts list.
• Collins has hit a three-pointer in eight 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 nine of the team's 10 games.
• The Hawks forced 15 Georgia Tech turnovers, while only giving up the ball six times themselves.
• Saturday's contest featured eight ties and 22 lead changes.
• The Hawks fell to 0-2 all-time against Georgia Tech.

 
Up Next
Monmouth will have a week off before returning to action next Sunday to face Fairfield on the road. Tipoff from Leo D. Mahoney Arena in Fairfield, Conn., is set for 2 p.m.