St. Joseph’s controlled at home by Monmouth, 87-75

St. Joseph’s fell to Monmouth, 87-75, on Saturday afternoon at Hagan Arena despite a strong performance from Jordan Hall.

In a mostly back-and-forth game, the Hawks (2-2) couldn’t pull through when it mattered most. Hall’s 24 points weren’t enough to carry the Hawks to victory.

Dhamir Bishop went into the game shooting 14% but found his stroke with 12 points. His performance off the bench, however, was not able to make up for a tough day for Taylor Funk and sixth man Cameron Brown.

Funk went into Saturday shooting 57% from three-point range. But he shot just 4-for-10 from three, and 4-for-11 overall, with two of those threes coming in garbage time. It was clear the Hawks missed Funk’s efficiency. Monmouth (3-1) had the lead for almost 28 minutes of the game as a result.

Brown finished with just five points and two rebounds in 23 minutes.

Ejike Obinna struggled to be a force down low, shooting only three times and grabbing only four rebounds. Coach Billy Lange used a lot more of backup center Charles Coleman.

Hall’s three-point stroke was smooth in the second half. The Hawks hadn’t had that from him yet this season -- he went into Saturday shooting just 21% on three-pointers. He also impacted the game in other ways, with 10 rebounds and five assists.

Monmouth jumped out to an early lead in the first half. But Bishop stepped up to halt the run. Whenever Monmouth looked ready to pull away, the Hawks hit a big shot. To end the first half, Monmouth star George Papas found his stroke from three. But Bishop matched his intensity, with a killer up-and-under-the-basket move to cut Monmouth’s lead to three at the half.

Coleman logged his most minutes of the season (19) and grabbed seven rebounds. But he took only two shots, making one. And that was ultimately the difference as the Hawks struggled to score in the final minutes.

The Hawks next head out west to play USC in the Wooden Legacy tournament in Anaheim, Calif.