West Long Branch, NJ (The Verge)- The first half seemed hopeless for Monmouth University with Jesse Steele contributing only two of his 18 total points. The St. Francis Terriers visited the Hawks at the MAC on Thursday night,but couldn’t put up the points and lost 79-73.
With 3:50 left in the first period, the Hawks (11-19, 9-8 Northeast Conference) were trailing by 18. Michael Myers Keitt gave the Hawks a slam dunk with one minute left in the first half, adding to the halftime score of 29-38. Fellow Hawks Nesmith, Nicholas, and Ware each put up double figures in this game approaching the end of the regular season.
St. Francis, (15-13, 12-5) a top three seed, started out strong with four players putting up double digit points. One of the Terrier’s best players, Stefan Perunicic left the game in the first half with an injury; which certainly didn’t help St. Francis.
When asked how he feels about post-season conference tournament, coach King Rice says, “Any time it gets to close to March anybody can win … I told these guys if we stay together through the whole thing, something special can happen this year for this team.” He adds, “I like our team right now because we’re continuing to get better.” The Hawks will play LIU at home in the MAC this Saturday
