Monmouth men’s basketball is headed to its first Coastal Athletic Association Tournament championship game in its fourth year in the league.
Senior guard Kavion McClain had a team-high 21 points as Monmouth scored a semifinal 74-64 victory over Campbell in Washington Monday night, March 9. The Hawks will play the winner of the Hofstra-Towson semifinal in the championship game Tuesday night at 7 (CBS Sports Network).
The tournament winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The Hawks (19-14) have been to the Big Dance four times but it’s been 20 years since their last appearance. That 2006 team also scored the program’s only game victory in the tournament.
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Monmouth closed the first half on an 18-9 run and claimed a 30-24 halftime lead. Campbell University of North Carolina (16-18) shot 50%, Monmouth was at 33.3%, but the Hawks took 16 more shots (36-20) thanks a pesky defense that produced 15 Campbell turnovers.
Campbell turned it over seven more times – 22 in all at that point – by the time the game hit the under-4 timeout. Monmouth’s lead was stretched to 59-45, powered by a 21-6 edge in points off turnovers.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: March Madness: Monmouth basketball beats Campbell, CAA Tournament final next