WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. — William & Mary men's basketball dropped its second in a row on the road in CAA play at Monmouth, 81-70, on Thursday night at OceanFirst Bank Center.
 
The Tribe trailed by three at the half and closed to within one early in the second, but the Hawks hit a season-high 10 3-pointers and pulled away in the ladder stages of the second half.
 
Senior Chase Lowe just missed recording his second-straight double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds, leading the team in both categories. Junior Reese Miller added 11 points, three assists, and two steals, while classmate Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi tallied 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from 3-point range, to go with two steals.
 
The Tribe (11-5, 2-2 CAA) opened up a five-point lead, 18-13, thanks to a 7-0 run midway through the opening half. Vahlberg Fasasi knocked down a 3-pointer, while a Finn Lally reserve lay-up following an offensive rebound pushed the lead to five at the 9:06 mark.
 
Monmouth (8-8, 2-1 CAA) answered by hitting seven-straight shots to take a lead it would not relinquish. Justin Ray and Cornelius Robinson Jr. each scored four as part of an 11-0 run. The final four of the stretch came from Robinson, whose putback with 3:48 left in the opening half extended the margin to 33-25.
 
W&M scored the final four of the period, including a lay-up from Kyle Pulliam with 22 seconds remaining to narrow the gap to 37-34 at the break. Monmouth shot 48.4% in the opening 20 minutes and hit 6-of-12 from 3-point range.
 
Graduate student Cade Haskins scored the opening bucket of the second half off a putback just 13 seconds into the frame to cut the deficit to one, 37-36. Jason Rivera-Torres, who scored 16 of his game-high 19 in the second half, answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing Monmouth possession.
 
W&M once again drew within a possession at 42-40 on a Kilian Brockhoff bucket at the 16:58 mark, but it was another Rivera-Torres triple just over a minute later that stretched the Monmouth lead back to six.
 
The deficit was again six, 66-60, following a pair of Lowe free throws with 4:54 remaining. The Hawks used a 10-2 run to put the game out of reach. Andrew Ball and Robinson Jr. scored four apiece during the run, and a pair of Rivera-Torres free throws gave the home team is largest lead of the night at 79-64 with a minute remaining.
 
W&M finished the night shooting 45.2% (28-of-62) from the field, but were just 7-of-24 (29.2%) from 3 and shot only 46.7% (7-of-15) at the free throw line. Monmouth shot 46.9% (30-of-64) from the floor and 40% (10-of-25) from 3-point range.
 
Rivera-Torres scored 19 points, hitting four 3-pointers, to go with seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Ball contributed 18 points, shooting 6-for-11 from the field, while Robinson Jr. added 17 points and secured eight rebounds. Jack Collins provided a strong stat line with eight points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
 
Up Next
The Tribe wraps up its three-game road trip at Drexel on Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from the Daskalakis Athletic Center, and the game will be televised on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The contest will also be streamed on FloCollege. W&M fans can listen into the radio broadcast on the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley on the call. The broadcast will be available on The Tide 92.3 FM in Williamsburg, the flagship station of the Tribe Sports Network.