Monmouth roundup

The Monmouth University men's basketball team opened Northeast Conference action with an 80-53 loss to preseason favorite Sacred Heart, in Boylan Gym, in the Hawks' home opener.

Sacred Heart opened the game by hitting three straight three-pointers, and added a three-point play at 15:22 to snare a 12-0 lead, as Monmouth opened 0-for-6 from the field. The Hawks got on the board at the 15:00 mark when Whitney Coleman dropped in a jumper in the lane, cutting the lead to 12-2.

SHU, which got eight straight points from Brice Brooks over a 2:25 stretch, pushed the lead to 20-4 at 11:58, and inflated the cushion to 29-8 with 7:44 left on a Ryon Howard baseline basket. After R.J. Rutledge drilled the Hawks' second three-pointer of the half to make the score 29-11 with 5:35 showing, Drew Shubik canned SHU's fifth trifecta to push the lead back to 21 points.

Monmouth (2-5), which has now lost four straight games in Boylan dating back to last season, suffered its worst league loss since a 28-point defeat to Fairleigh Dickinson on Jan. 17, 1998. The Hawks return to action on Saturday, Dec. 8, when Monmouth hosts Penn at 7 p.m. in Boylan Gym.