Washington, D.C. - MIchael Graham tallied 12 points and 16 rebounds, while
Jean Aranguren led all scorers in the game with 19 points, but Monmouth scored the game's final six points to earn a 65-60 win over the Hofstra men's basketball team on Saturday evening in the second round of the 2025 Jersey Mike's CAA Men's Basketball Championship at CareFirst Arena.
The loss ends the Pride's season at 15-18. Monmouth, which improved to 13-19, moves on to the quarterfinals and will face Charleston on Sunday.
The double-double was Graham's team-high seventh of the season.
Monmouth led by as many as seven in the opening 20 minutes, including a 25-18 advantage with 3:01 to play before the intermission. The Pride rallied to end the half and scored 10 of the final 13 points in the first half to knot the score at 28 at the break.
TJ Gadsden sent the teams into the locker room tied as he hit a baseline jumper as time expired.
Hofstra fell behind by seven early in the second half before using a 10-2 run to take a 38-37 lead with 12:36 left following a free throw from
Khalil Farmer.
Monmouth would continue to try and pull away but Hofstra had an answer each time. The Pride was down five, 56-51 with 5:54 to play before eventually taking the lead on a layup from Graham with 2:15 remaining. Leading 60-59, the Pride was unable to hold on as the Hawks took the lead for good with 2:03 to play and added four free throws over the final 1:18 to cement the victory.
Cruz Davis chipped in with seven points, five rebounds, and seven assists, while
German Plotnikov tallied 12 points in the contest.
Jack Collins led Monmouth with 18 points, while Abdi Bashir Jr. had 11 points for the Hawks.
NOTES
- Monmouth leads the all-time series with Hofstra, 9-8.
- Aranguren led Hofstra in scoring for the 16th time this season.
- Graham led Hofstra in rebounding for the 16th time this season.
- Davis led Hofstra in assists for the 16th time this season.
- Aranguren scored in double figures for the 26th time this year, Graham was in double figures for the 11th time, and Plotnikov reached double figures for the seventh time in 2024-25.
