BOX SCORE

West Long Branch, NJ – Travis Taylor, seeing his first action following a seven-game suspension, scored 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Monmouth past Wagner 76-67. 

With the loss, the Seahawks fall to 4-23 on the season, 2-12 in Northeast Conference play while the Hawks improve to 11-15 overall, 7-7 in league play. 

Wagner took the early lead on a three-point jumper by senior forward Doug Elwell (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) 26 seconds into the game but the Hawks answered with a 13-0 run en route to taking a 40-28 halftime lead. 

Monmouth opened the second half with a14-7 run in taking its biggest lead of the game at 54-35 with 13:18 left to play. But the Seahawks did not go away quietly, as they steadily chipped away at the lead. A three-point basket by freshman forward Garrett Constance (Woodlands, TX/College Park) capped a furious 15-3 run that drew the Seahawks to within six points at 67-61 with 4:54 left in the game. But Taylor then went back to work, scoring the next five points as the Hawks held on for the win. 

Taylor was a huge factor in the low post all game long, and wound up shooting 8-of-16 from the field and a staggering 14-of-18 from the free throw line. In contrast, the Seahawks shot just 14 free throws as a team, connecting on eight. 

Freshman guard Danny Mundweiler (Overland Park, KS/Olathe East), coming off a career-high 18-point outing at Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday night, scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the first half. Mundweiler was 4-of-7 from beyond the arc on the evening. Sophomore guard Tyler Murray (Toronto, Ontario/Eastern Commerce) added 13 points and eight assists while Constance set career highs in every offensive category in recording 12 points off the bench. The 6-5 Constance was 4-of-7 from the floor, 2-of-5 from three-point range and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe while seeing a career-high 17 minutes of action. 

Elwell and senior center Michael Orock (Hoboken, NJ/Hoboken) added eight points apiece for the Seahawks, while freshman center Ryan Schrotenboer (Fort Myers, FL/Bishop Verot) registered career highs in points with seven and in rebounds with five. 

For the game, Monmouth out-shot Wagner 49 percent to 43 percent but the Seahawks did hit on 50 percent of their shots in the second half. The Hawks won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Wagner 35-27. 

The Seahawks are next in action on Thursday, Feb. 18 when they host Bryant University in a 7:00 pm tip.