No. 4 Monmouth Advances to First CAA Semifinal with 65-57 Win over No. 5 Drexel

No. 4 Monmouth Advances to First CAA Semifinal with 65-57 Win over No. 5 Drexel

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Dylan Smith

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | TICKETS
PHOTO GALLERY | HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE – MONMOUTH | PRESS CONFERENCE – DREXEL
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the first time since joining the CAA, No. 4 Monmouth secured a spot in the semifinals of the Air Force Reserve CAA Men’s Basketball Championship with a 65-57 victory over No. 5 Drexel on Sunday afternoon inside CareFirst Arena.
 
The Hawks (18-14) will face No. 9 Campbell (16-17) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Monday. The Dragons finished their season with a 17-16 mark.
 
Monmouth’s Jason Rivera-Torres and Kavion McClain registered 14 points apiece, while pulling down a combined 14 boards. Justin Ray chipped in 11 points of his own. Drexel’s Kevon Vanderhorst led all scorers with 15 points, while Shane Blakeney posted 11 points and nine boards.
 
Drexel came out firing from behind the arc as Blakeney, Victor Panov and Vanderhorst each connected from distance to help take an early 9-2 lead. The Dragons watched their lead grow to double figures, 24-14, with under 11 minutes remaining, watching Vanderhorst knock down a pair of layups and a trey before Garfield Turner finished in close to cap a 9-2 run.
 
Monmouth stormed back to take the lead, 30-29, after a four-point spurt from Dok Muordar, a five-point spree by Ray and Spartalis closing out the 16-5 run with seven straight points of his own. Blakeney reclaimed a lead before the halftime horn on a floater from the baseline to take a 33-32 edge.
 
The two teams traded blows over the first eight minutes of the frame, exchanging three ties, four lead changes and neither leading by more than four points. Turner backed down the Hawks’ defender and finished over the top to claim a five-point edge, 48-43, for the Dragons near the midway point of the frame.
 
Momentum swung back into the Hawks’ favor as Ray’s finish at the rim and Rivera-Torres drawing contact on a corner trey jumpstarted a 13-1 run to take a 56-49 lead with 2:37 to play. Monmouth closed out the game from the charity stripe with six makes over the final 1:32.
 
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