Philadelphia, PA – Monmouth University Men's Basketball dropped a close game in the regular season finale at Drexel University Saturday, 71-61. Three Hawks scored in double figures, led by 15 from Abdi Bashir Jr.
 
Jack Collins' three at 12:47 tied the game, and the Hawks took the lead on a vicious dunk from Jordan Meka on the next possession. After Drexel went up four, a Cornelius Robinson III corner triple had it down to one, but Drexel went on a 9-0 run to take control with 5:54 remaining. MU got within six but no closer, falling to the Dragons on the road.
 
Drexel led by seven early, but Monmouth tied it with a 7-0 push and took the lead on a Collins three-point play. The first half featured 11 lead changes, but Robinson's putback at the buzzer sent MU to the break up one, 34-33.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES

"I thought we played fairly well, just didn't have enough. Have to give Drexel credit. Good game, we shot ourselves in the foot down the stretch but you have to give them the credit. We got picked where we got picked and we finished in front of that, same record in the league as last year." – Head Coach King Rice
 
-Monmouth finishes 10-8 and sixth in the CAA, the highest the Hawks have finished in three seasons in the league.
-MU was picked eighth, and has now matched or outperformed its preseason poll selection in 10 of 14 seasons under King Rice.
-Cornelius Robinson III matched a career high with 10 rebounds.
-Nine different Hawks scored in the game.
-Bashir extended his NCAA lead with three made threes, and now has 121 on the year, four shy of the CAA all-time record.
-Jack Collins moved into ninth alone on the all-time rebounding list and is one shy of eighth.
-Dok Muordar matched a career-best with four blocks.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
 
-Monmouth was better on second-chance points, 16-10.
-The Hawks topped points in the paint, 26-24.
-The game featured eight ties and 18 lead changes.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth is the #6 seed in the upcoming CAA Tournament, and will play at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night, March 8 against the winner of Friday's opening round game between the #11 and #14 seeds.