Salnave, Hammond lead Monmouth to 3rd straight win, 74-57

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- Ray Salnave scored 17 points with a trio of 3-pointers and had three steals as Monmouth ran away from Fairfield 74-57 Thursday night, winning its third straight.

Deion Hammond added 16 points and four 3-pointers for Monmouth (5-14, 4-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Association) and Diago Quinn 15 points and eight rebounds. The Hawks, who started the season with 12 straight losses, are 5-2 since breaking into the win column against Penn in overtime.

Salnave and Hammond opened the game with back-to-back 3s, but Fairfield used a 9-1 run to take a 9-7 lead, but held it for about two minutes before Mustafa Traore and Salnave connected on consecutive baskets and the Hawks never trailed again, leading by seven at halftime and by as many as 20 in the second half.

Monmouth is above .500 in MAAC play for the first time since the 2016-17 season.

Jonathan Kasibabu led Fairfield (5-13, 2-4) with 12 points and nine rebounds, Neftali Alvarez added 11 points.