Men's Basketball Opens Season with 78-65 Loss at Monmouth

Friday, November 11

West Long Branch, N.J.

7:00

Drexel University

0-1

Monmouth

1-0

Team	1	2	F
Drexel	32	33	65
Monmouth	47	31	78

Men's Basketball Opens Season with 78-65 Loss at Monmouth

11/11/2016 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score

West Long Branch, N.J. – The Zach Spiker era officially opened on Friday night as the Dragons opened the 2016-17 season with a 78-65 loss at Monmouth. Spiker, who came to Drexel from Army West Point, faced one of the top mid-majors in the nation and came up short despite a solid effort from a number of new faces.

Monmouth opened the game with a solid first half and took a 47-32 lead to intermission. Four Hawks had at least 10 points at the half as Monmouth made six three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. The Dragons tried to make it a game as they came out with eight straight points to start the second half. All eight were scored by Sammy Mojica. The junior nailed a pair of three-pointers and scored on a reverse lay-in to cut the Monmouth lead to 47-40.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, those would be the last points for the visitors for a span of more than five minutes. During that stretch, the Hawks went on a 14-0 run to take command of the game.

Freshman Kurk Lee opened some eyes with his performance. The rookie from Baltimore scored a team-high 17 points and committed just two turnovers despite being pressed by an aggressive Monmouth defense. Mojica chipped in with 13 points. Rodney Williams and Kari Jonsson added nine points in the loss. Drexel shot just 32 percent in the game and was 9-for-30 from behind the arc.

The Hawks had four players in double figures on the night. Micah Seaborn led Monmouth with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3 for 4 from deep. Justin Robinson, the Preseason MAAC Player of the Year, had 15 points, five assists and five rebounds. Chris Brady and Je'lon Hornbeak had 14 points and 13 points, respectively. Brady also added eight boards.

Drexel will be back in action in New Jersey on Sunday afternoon. The Dragons play at Rutgers at 4 p.m. in a game that can be seen live on the Big Ten Network.