Taylor scores 20, Monmouth uses second-half spurt to beat St. Francis 63-53

Taylor helps Monmouth beat St. Francis 63-53

LORETTO, Pa. — Travis Taylor scored 20 points and Monmouth (N.J.) used a late surge to defeat Saint Francis (Pa.) 63-53 on Thursday night and win its fifth straight game.

The Hawks (8-9, 4-1 Northeast Conference) broke a tie at 28 with a 15-2 spurt and led 43-30 with 10:58 to go.

The game was tied six times in the first half before Justin Sofman’s 3-pointer gave Monmouth a 22-21 lead at the break.

The Hawks scored 23 points off 20 Red Flash turnovers.

Monmouth shot only 35.7 percent from the field in the first half (10-for-28), but improved to 56.5 percent (13-for-23) in the second to finish at 45.1 percent (23-for-51). Saint Francis shot 37.2 percent (16-for-43) for the game.

Sofman finished with 15 points for the Hawks and Whitney Coleman added 13.

Anthony Ervin scored 12 points for the Red Flash (4-12, 2-3) and Sorena Orandi and Umar Shannon added 11 points apiece.