West Long Branch, NJ – Monmouth University Men's Basketball dropped a hard-fought home matchup to Towson University Saturday, 73-67 in front of the largest crowd of the season at the OceanFirst Bank Center. Abdi Bashir Jr. led three in double figures with 19 points.
 
An early 7-0 run in the second half had things even, but Towson posted a 10-2 spurt to lead by nine. Monmouth had it within four several times, but Towson converted critical shots down the stretch to hold on for the six-point win.
 
A tightly contested first half saw Bashir make three triples in the period, and with 6:56 to go, Andrew Ball's basket put the Hawks on top 20-19. In a tie game, Towson went on a 6-0 run, and after a Bashir three got it back to two, a late Towson triple sent it to the half with the visitors leading, 38-33. Ten Hawks played in the first half, with eight scoring.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"Let's give Towson all the credit, they did what they had to do coming in here and handling their business. I thought it was an awesome college game, but down the stretch they got the rebounds and made the big shots." – Head Coach King Rice
 
-Abdi Bashir scored in double figures for the 24^th time this season.
-Madison Durr posted his 18^th game in double digits.
-Jack Collins posted double figures for the 11^th time this year.
-Nine different Hawks scored in the game.
-The crowd of 2,756 was the largest at the OceanFirst Bank Center this season.
-The game aired on CBS Sports Network, the first of four times Monmouth will air on the platform this season as part of the CAA's television package.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
 
-Monmouth was better in the paint, 26-24.
-The Hawks topped Towson off turnovers, 9-5.
-MU forced 12 turnovers from Towson while only committing nine of their own.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth is at Stony Brook Thursday to take on the Seawolves. Tip is set for 5:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network and on the radio via the Monmouth Digital Network and the Varsity Network app.