Monmouth Shoots 55% to Soar Into CAA Quarterfinals

Monmouth Shoots 55% to Soar Into CAA Quarterfinals

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Rob Washburn

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 9, 2024) – Monmouth shot a season-best 55.2% from the floor and had six players score in double figures as the 8th-seeded Hawks posted a 90-67 victory over #9 Campbell in the second round of the Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.
 
Monmouth (18-14) advances to the quarterfinals where it will face top-seeded Charleston at Noon on Sunday. Campbell closes the season with a 14-18 record.
 
Forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi led the Hawks’ balanced offensive effort with 15 points and nine rebounds, guard Jakari Spence tallied 14 points and backcourt mate Jack Collins recorded a double-double with 13 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and six assists. Monmouth also got 13 points on 6-of-7 FG shooting from Jaret Valencia, 12 points and eight assists from Xander Rice and 11 points from Abdi Bashir, Jr.


 
For Campbell, All-CAA guard Anthony Dell’Orso poured in a game-high 23 points and guard Jasin Sinani contributed 21 points.
 
Campbell got off to a hot start, nailing its first three 3-point attempts and grabbing an early 17-8 lead on an Alex Kotov layup. Monmouth battled back thanks to big contributions from its bench. Bashir Jr. scored a team-high nine first-half points on three treys, and Klemen Vuga added eight points, including a layup that gave the Hawks a 25-23 lead with 7:10 to go in the period. Ahead by five with less than four minutes until the break, Monmouth used a pair of Bashir threes to end the half on a 12-2 run and take its largest lead – 45-31 – into halftime.


 
Monmouth maintained the momentum in the second half, putting together an early 11-0 surge capped by Konstantynovskyi layup that put the Hawks ahead 63-38 with 14:10 remaining. The Hawks, who shot 59.4% from the floor in the second half, never let the Camels get closer than 16 points the rest of the way.
 
The 90 points were the most for Monmouth since scoring 93 against Belmont on Nov. 24.
 
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