WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth bridged the halves with 21 unanswered points as the Hawks rallied from a 14-point first half deficit to defeat Siena Basketball 66-55 at OceanFirst Bank Center. Deion Hammond scored 13 of his game-high 16 points in the second half for Monmouth which was awarded 32 free throws to the Saints' eight.

Diago Quinn scored 10 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting and reserve Louie Pillari added 10 points for Monmouth (7-16, 6-4) which has now captured 11 of 13 meetings between the programs since joining the MAAC, including all six on the Jersey Shore. Nick Rutherford added eight points and eight rebounds for the Hawks which have won five straight in West Long Branch.

Freshman Sloan Seymour scored 12 of his season-high tying 15 points in the second half for Siena (9-12, 4-4) which shot 6-8 from the free throw line in seeing its three-game winning streak snapped, whereas Monmouth was 19-32. The Saints, who entered the day ranked third nationally in fewest fouls per game (13.7), were whistled for a season-high 23, while the Hawks, who commit the 26^th most fouls nationally (20.8), were called for 12.

Siena led for all but the final second of the first half and by as many as 14 at 27-13 with 7:44 remaining in the stanza following an 11-1 run. Monmouth rallied with the final 15 points of the half and hit the go-ahead free throws with 0.2 seconds remaining to claim a 28-27 lead at the break.

The Hawks ultimately scored 21 unanswered points while holding the Saints scoreless for 10:13, before a Seymour three ended the drought with 17:31 to play. Siena was 0-11 from the field and committed five turnovers during the stretch.

Nevertheless, the Saints pulled within four on the Seymour triple and shortly thereafter went on a 10-2 spurt to draw even at 46-all with 8:07 to go. Siena trailed by just a point at 53-52 with 4:51 remaining, but the Hawks ended the game on a 13-3 run to improve to 7-4 over their last 11 games after having started the season with 12 consecutive defeats.

Jalen Pickett scored 11 points and dished out five assists and Evan Fisher tallied 10 of his 14 points in the second half for the Saints which shot just 36% from the field.

Siena continues its busiest stretch of the season featuring three games in five days when the Saints take on three-time defending MAAC Tournament Champion Iona Saturday at 1 p.m. in New Rochelle.