Men's Basketball
Falls to Monmouth, 69-57;
Hawks Place Four Players in Double Figures |
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1/15/05 -- Monmouth University had four players reach double figures en route to a 69-57 victory over Long Island University in Northeast Conference men’s basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Schwartz Athletic Center. Freshman Randy Jones (West Palm Beach, Fla.) tallied a career best 18 points, converting 6-of-10 from 3-point territory. Sophomore James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) added 12, including a 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line. Monmouth (5-8, 4-0 NEC) was paced by forward Marques Alston, who matched a career-best with 18 points. Senior Blake Hamilton poured in 13 points and Chris Kenny and Dwayne Byfield added 10 apiece for the Hawks, who shot 61.9 percent (13-of-21) in the second half and 51.1 percent (23-of-45) overall. LIU (6-8, 3-2 NEC) led 28-27 on a Kellen Allen (Mansfield, Texas) lay-up 11 seconds into the second half. The Hawks responded, ripping off a 14-0 run to lead 41-28 with 12:41 remaining. Alston scored 11 of the team’s 14 points during the seven-minute spurt. With less than 10 minutes remaining and LIU still trailing by double digits, Williams tallied six of his 12 points in a 38-second span. He drained three consecutive from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to 46-40 with 8:27 remaining. Monmouth, however, countered with a 20-8 run capped by a 3-pointer from Byfield for a 66-48 margin with 1:12 showing. Jones registered three of his six 3-point field goals in the final 1:01 of play. The Blackbirds jumped out to a 4-0 advantage to start the contest behind two scores from junior Aubin Scott (Hempstead, N.Y.). The Hawks countered on both ends of the floor, reeling off a 15-0 run and forcing five turnovers. A triple from Jones ended a 6:59 scoreless drought at the 10:41 mark and pulled LIU to within eight, 15-7. Monmouth held a 22-13 edge with 6:09 showing, but 3-pointers from Esa Maki-Tulokas (Forssa, Finland) and Evan Meekins (E. Providence, R.I.) closed the gap. Senior Derek Bell converted two free throws with 53 seconds left in the half to pull the Blackbirds to within a point at halftime, 27-26. The Blackbirds return to action on Wednesday, February 19 traveling to Fairleigh Dickinson for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. |
