Monmouth survives at Rider for 10th straight win
Monmouth University survived at Rider for the third year in a row, winning, 74-69, for its program record 10th straight win
@Joshua_Newman
LAWRENCEVILLE -- The next time Monmouth University has an easy time at Alumni Gymnasium might be the first time.
The MAAC's truest bandbox facility, the 1,650-seat home of Rider University has not provided a respite on the schedule, but rather relief after emotional 1-point escapes each of the last two seasons. Monday night's renewal of in-state rivals followed a comparable path of pressing circumstances, which provided no style points, but instead that same sense of relief for the Hawks after 40 minutes.
Down one after a Chris Brady layup, Justin Robinson's driving score with 54 seconds left gave Monmouth the lead, and Austin Tilghman's transition layu gave them some breathing room 22 seconds later. In front of an engaged sellout crowd, Monmouth escaped, 74-69, to maintain its stranglehold on the race for the No. 1 seed at the MAAC Tournament next month.
Robinson finished with 25 points on 7-of-16 shooting as Monmouth (20-5, 12-2 MAAC) has won 10 games in a row for the first time in its Division I history, dating back to a Jan. 2 loss at St. Peter's. Monday night also marks the first time the program has registered back-to-back 20-win seasons, having won a school-record 28 last season.
"Any time you win, it's a sense relief," said Rice, who will go in search of his 100th career win Friday night at Manhattan College. "It doesn't matter if you win by 50, 2, 1, if it's a blowout, if it a tight game. When you win, whew. As a coach, you want the kids to feel great, but as a coach, we weren't at our best."
Brady's layup off a drive-and-dish from Tilghman brought Monmouth, which led for 80 percent of the game, to within 1 at 69-68 with 1:31 to play. Thomas missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:06 remaining, which brought Monmouth to the doorstep of stealing a game at Rider for the third year in a row.
With the ball in his hands out top, Robinson initially was going to call for a screen from Brady. Out of the corner of his eye, Robinson saw Rice motioning for him to go to the rim instead. He got a step on his defender, tucked the ball away, then finished strong off the glass for a 70-69 lead with 54 seconds to play.
Out of a Rider timeout, Jimmie Taylor missed a good look at a 3-pointer, Brady grabbed the defensive rebound, and the Hawks converted a 2-on-1 fast-break as Je'lon Hornbeak fed Tilghman to extend the lead to 3 with 32 seconds left.
"It would mean something if we were done tonight," Robinson said when asked about the significance of a 20-win season. "We have six regular-season games left, then the (MAAC) Tournament, so we're not anywhere near done. We want to focus one game at a time, and that next one is Friday night.
With the game tied inside 7:00 to play, Robinson, whose 3-pointer here last season with 3.4 seconds left capped a furious late rally, appeared set to play the villain again. Triples on consecutive possessions gave the Hawks a 60-54 lead with 5:45 left and prompted a Broncs timeout. Taylor knocked a pair of 3's on consecutive possessions to re-tie the game as neither side led by more than 5 the rest of the way.
"To play us to where we really, really have to have some breaks go our way down the stretch to get the win, I can't say enough about the job Kevin Baggett does," Rice said. "Kids being out and hurt, this was an ugly game to me, but it was a tough game because of Rider's coach and their players.
Monmouth dealt with depth problems as Collin Stewart (back spasms) did not travel. Louie Pillari was sick, but played 14 minutes, Micah Seaborn (knee) played just 17 minutes, and Rice indicated postgame that Josh James was dealing with an issue despite playing 23 minutes. Anything Rice dealt with Monday night paled in comparison to Baggett, who dressed only eight guys, including Anthony Durham (ankle), who was a game-time decision.
Rider (13-12, 6-8 MAAC) hung tough despite the lack of bodies, effectively throwing a zone at Monmouth that appeared to change between a 1-3-1 and 2-3 at times. Monmouth shot just 31.4 percent and 21.4 percent from 3-point range in the first half, but was in control. At one juncture, the Hawks ripped off eight points in a row to take its largest lead of the first half, 25-17, at the 5:25 mark. The final four points came off Brady tip-ins with the 6-foot-10 junior doing a nice job crashing the glass.
He finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and is one game shy of tying the program record for most played in a career with 127.
Staff writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com