Monmouth Earns Back-to-Back Quarterfinal Berth with 65-60 Victory over Hofstra
Dylan Smith
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | TICKETS | PHOTO GALLERY
HIGHLIGHTS | PRESS CONFERENCE – MONMOUTH | PRESS CONFERENCE – HOFSTRA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sixth-seeded Monmouth scored the game’s final six points and battled past No. 11 Hofstra, 65-60, in the final second-round contest of the Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday night at CareFirst Arena.
The Hawks (13-19) advance to play No. 3 Charleston in the quarterfinals at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday. Hofstra’s season came to a close with a 15-18 record.
Junior guard Jack Collins hit 3-of-5 treys and led Monmouth with 18 points, while Jaret Valencia chipped in 12 points off the bench. Center Dok Muordar grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and blocked six shots, which were the most rejections in CAA Tournament game since 2018.
Sophomore guard Jean Aranguren poured in a team-best 19 points for Hofstra and Michael Graham recorded a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. German Plotnikov nailed his first four three-point attempts and tallied all 12 of his points in the first half.
Defenses dominated in a tightly contested opening half. Back-to-back threes from Collins put Monmouth up 10-4 before Hofstra responded with three consecutive treys from Plotnikov to pull even at 13-13. The Hawks took their largest lead, 25-18, on a Collins jumper in the lane with 3:01 on the clock, but the Pride closed the half on a 10-3 run capped by a TJ Gadsen jumper at the buzzer to tie the contest at 28-28 at the break.
Monmouth scored the first seven points of the second half, going ahead 35-28 on a Cornelius Robinson, Jr. layup. Hofstra answered with a 10-2 spurt, taking a 38-37 advantage on a Khalil Farmer free throw with 12:36 to play. From there, the lead would change hands seven times, with the Pride moving on top 60-59 with 2:15 remaining following back-to-back buckets from Graham.
A jumper from Abdi Bashir, Jr. put the Hawks back up by one with 2:03 to go and he added a pair of free throws with 1:18 on the clock. Hofstra had three attempts to cut into the deficit in the final minute but was able to convert. Two Madison Durr free throws with three seconds remaining provided the final margin.