Late Monmouth surge beats Sacred Heart

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (AP) - Andrew Nicholas scored 15 points and Monmouth (N.J.) used a late-game surge to overtake Sacred Heart 63-56 Thursday night.

A 3-pointer by Jesse Steele started a 13-0 run for the Hawks (7-17, 5-6 Northeast Conference), just 4 seconds after the Pioneers (10-14, 4-7) had taken a 54-46 lead with 2:31 remaining.

Two consecutive Monmouth turnovers led to layups by Dion Nesmith and Nicholas, then Ed Waite's layup with 55 seconds left put the Hawks ahead 55-54.

Monmouth made it 59-54 on a layup by Austin Tillotson and two free throws by Steele. It finished with a 22-6 edge in points in the paint and got 13 points off 21 Sacred Heart turnovers. The Pioneers got one point from 11 Monmouth turnovers.

Nesmith finished with 13 points and Steele 12 for Monmouth.

Shane Gibson, who was averaging 21.6 points, had 22 for Sacred Heart.