WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Behind 20 points from Trey Moss and Chase Lowe's second double-double in as many games, William & Mary battled back from a 14-point halftime deficit before falling just short, 68-64, at Monmouth on Thursday night.
 
Moss scored 13 of his game-high 20 in the second half and was 4-of-8 from 3-point range, while Lowe finished with 17 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to go with five assists.
 
Trailing by 14 at the break, the Tribe (8-16, 3-8 CAA) closed to within two for a second time at 62-60 on a Gabe Dorsey four-point play with 1:48 remaining. Monmouth responded with four in a row on two Cornelius Robinson Jr. free throws and a Jaret Valencia dunk over a 26-second span to push the lead back to six on the way to a four-point victory.
 
Monmouth (13-11, 6-5 CAA) shot 43.6% from the floor and put four players in double figures. Jack Collins led the Hawks with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Robinson Jr. had a career-high 12 points.
 
W&M pulled down 15 of its 19 offensive rebounds in the second half and turned those into 15 second-chance points in the final 20 minutes. The Tribe held a 43-37 advantage on the glass, but shot just 32.8% for the game, including 9-of-28 (32.1%) from 3-point range. W&M was 15-of-19 (78.9%) at the free throw line.
 
Defensively, the Tribe collectively limited the CAA's leading scorer Xander Rice to just seven points on 2-of-9 shooting. He came into the game averaging 25.7 points per game in CAA play, but added a game-high seven assists.
 
The Tribe led 6-5 after a Trey Moss 3-pointers just over two minutes into the game, but Monmouth gained control with a 12-1 run. Five different players scored during the spurt, including triples from Collins and Jack Holmstrom to open a 17-7 lead with 13:25 remaining in the first half.
 
After W&M scored five in a row to close within 17-12 on a pair of Moss free throws, the Hawks answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Xander Rice and Abdi Bashir, Jr., to extend the lead to 23-12 and force a W&M timeout at the 11:31 mark. Monmouth hit six of its first nine from 3-point range in taking the double-digit first half lead.  
 
Monmouth's 37-23 halftime lead was its largest of the opening 20 minutes. The margin twice reached 14, including on the final time with a Jakari Spence fastbreak lay-up with 1:28 left in the first half.
 
W&M scored seven of first 10 points in second half to close to 40-30 on a pair of Moss free throws less than two minutes into the final frame. Back-to-back Lowe buckets pulled W&M within single digits, 49-40, with 12:31 left.
 
The deficit was 13 after a Collins fastbreak lay-up midway through the second period, before W&M used an 11-1 run to draw within three. The Tribe hit a trio of 3-pointers during the run, including two from Moss. His second triple of the stretch cut the deficit to 54-51 with 7:46 left.
 
The Tribe drew within 58-56 on a Lowe lay-up out of a W&M timeout with 4:29 left. Monmouth though scored four in a row, including a putback with 2:05 left by Collins to push the margin to six.
 
Gabe Dorsey finished with 13 points, while Caleb Dorsey had seven rebounds and three assists. Freshman Tai Hamilton added four points, five rebounds and two blocked shots off the bench.
 
Up Next
The Tribe continue its road trip at Delaware on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in Newark and the game will be broadcast on FloHoops.