Hawks Finish Season Strong, Defeat Long Island University

The Monmouth University men's basketball team is headed to the postseason after defeating Northeastern Conference-leading Long Island University Brooklyn this weekend.

Monmouth (12-19, 10-8 NEC) crushed the Blackbirds (22-8, 16-2 NEC) 106-78 on Saturday night at the MAC.

The win also clinched a No. 6 seed in the NEC Tournament for the Hawks, where they will face third-seeded Robert Morris (22-9, 13-5 NEC) on March 1 in the Sewall Center.

The team has ended the season on a hot streak by winning five of its last six games and will look to carry that momentum into the NEC Tournament.

Winning the NEC is the Hawks only chance of making the NCAA tournament this year, as the winner gets an automatic bid to participate in March Madness.

Juniors Jesse Steele and Dion Nesmith and freshman Andrew Nicholas have led the Hawks' late season resurgence during King Rice's first season as the team's head coach.

Steele has led the team in scoring all season and Nesmith and Nicholas emerged this season to complement a group of solid veterans in Mike Myers Keitt, Marcus Ware and Ed Waite.

Robert Morris will be a formidable opponent for Monmouth on Thursday, as the Colonials have defeated the Hawks twice this season, most recently in an overtime game at the MAC by a score of 81-73.

We will let you know how the Hawks fare this week as they hope to continue their late season run and bring home an NEC title.