WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Despite a resilient second half, the Saint Peter's University men's basketball team's comeback attempt came up just short as the Peacocks dropped its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) game of the season 78-76 to hOURglass Rival Monmouth University on Friday night at the OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch. The Peacock's MAAC mark falls to 2-1, while the team remains winless on the road this season (0-3).
A quartet of Peacocks scored in double figures led by the sophomore trio of
Doug Edert (19),
Daryl Banks III (15), and
Matthew Lee (13), while graduate student
Tarojae Brake added 11 points.
The Basics
Score: Saint Peter's 76, Monmouth 78
Records: Saint Peter's (4-3, 2-1 MAAC) | Monmouth (1-1, 1-0 MAAC)
Location: OceanFirst Bank Center | West Long Branch, NJ
How It Happened
- Back-to-back trifectas by Banks and Edert propelled Saint Peter's to an early 6-2 lead over Monmouth.
- A brief lead loss by the Peacocks was quickly erased when Banks hit a jumper from the elbow and KC Ndefo took his man one-on-one to the rim for a posterizing one handed dunk that put the Peacocks ahead 10-7.
- Monmouth would use a 12-1 run over the next four minutes to put Saint Peter's behind 19-11.
- That's when Edert decided to take matters into his own hands, scoring the Peacock's next nine straight points --- a pair of threes and a trio of free throws --- cutting the deficit to 24-20.
- After Hassan Drame's layup made it a one possession game, the three-point specialist Edert would complete the rally with another triple, giving the Peacocks a 26-24 lead with just under six minutes in the half. Edert's efforts accounted for 12 of Saint Peter's 15 points during the rally.
- The Hawks responded and closed out the last five minutes of the opening half by outscoring the Peacocks 16-6 for the 40-32 halftime advantage.
- Saint Peter's fell into a scoring slump in the second half, falling behind by double digits five minutes in (53-42) and then falling into a 14-point hole (64-50) with 10:02 reading on the game clock.
- Then, the second wind for the visitors kicked in with a run that would be spearheaded by Brake and Lee.
- The duo got the Peacocks off and running by exchanging threes on consecutive possessions (64-56).
- After free throws from both sides, Lee converted on a driving layup that cut the game to 65-60.
- Trailing 67-60, Brake would put down another triple, Lee would connect on another layup, and Brake would complete the comeback with a contested layup, knotting the game at 67-67.
- The run would last for less than five minutes and produce a 17-3 advantage for Saint Peter's.
- The Hawks regained the lead and led the Peacocks 77-73 with under a minute to play.
- Saint Peter's failed to convert on two shot opportunities, but Edert drained a three from the wing on an inbounds play, cutting the deficit to 77-76 with 10 second to play.
- Monmouth added a free throw to the score and with six seconds left, Lee drove the length of the floor and found Ndefo who's game-tying layup missed as the buzzer sounded.
Notes
- This was the Peacock's third time this season in which four players scored in double figures.
- In his first start of the year, Edert scored an efficient season-high 19 points, going 5-for-10 from the field (all three-point attempts) and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe in 30 minutes of action.
- Banks scored in double digits a team-leading fifth time on the season with his 15 points, and came up just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds.
- Lee and Brake had huge second halves, with the former scoring 11 of his 13 and the latter scoring nine of his 11 in the final 20 minutes.
- Lee also just missed out on a double-double, dishing out nine dimes --- the third time this season he has handed out at least nine assists.
- Saint Peter's 44 second half points were the most points in any half by the team this season.
- The Peacocks won the rebounding battle (44-37), points off of turnovers (22-19), and second chance points (13-8).
- The defeat snapped Saint Peter's two-game winning streak in the series and tied the all-time hOURglass Rivalry record between the two at 8-8.
- The loss also dropped the Peacocks record to 3-5 in West Long Branch during the rivalry.
Up Next
Saint Peter's and Monmouth will conclude the weekend series in West Long Branch tomorrow Dec. 19 at 5pm.
