GAME NOTES: Trying to end a three-game losing streak, the Monmouth Hawks will hit the road in search of a victory as they clash with the Marist Red Foxes in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference battle at McCann Arena.

Monmouth has dropped three straight games, which started with an overtime loss to Towson in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic. Since then, the Hawks have dropped games to Maryland (61-56) and SMU (63-51) to fall to 2-4 on the season.

Marist is off to an incredibly slow start to the season, entering this home tilt with a 1-5 record and coming off a 79-61 loss at Boston College. The Red Foxes have only beaten Fresno State, 68-64, this season, and are already plagued by injuries.

These two teams have met 56 times on the court, but this will be just the third meeting between the sides as they come together as MAAC rivals. Monmouth has the advantage in the all-time series, 35-21, but Marist won both clashes last season.

Monmouth had a hard time trying to kick-start an offensive effort in the team's loss to SMU in its last outing. The Mustangs shot 45.1 percent from the floor in the contest, and held the Hawks to 40 percent shooting with just a 7- of-20 mark from 3-point distance. Deon Jones was the only Monmouth player to register at least 10 points, dropping in 13 with eight rebounds in the loss. Brice Kofane and Josh James were the next closest to double-digit scorers for the Hawks, netting eight points apiece.

Monmouth has had some issues generating solid offense this season, and enters the game against Marist netting just 62.3 ppg. Jones leads the team with a 13.3 ppg average, followed by Andrew Nicholas, who nets an even 11.0 ppg. Justin Robinson contributes 10.0 ppg as the third and final double-digit scorer for the Hawks this season, adding in a team-best 19 assists. Kofane is the team's leading rebounder at 5.2 boards per outing.

It wasn't necessarily a poor offensive performance for Marist in the team's one-sided loss to Boston College, but the Eagles simply out-muscled the Red Foxes and got up more shots (57-38) than they did. Marist connected on 47.4 percent of its shot tries in the loss, and was led in scoring by Chavaughn Lewis, who had 28 points with six turnovers. Lewis connected on 10-of-13 from the free-throw line as well. Manny Thomas had 13 points, and Eric Truog netted 12 in the defeat.

Injuries have set the Red Foxes back already this season, with their leading scorer, Khallid Hart out with a foot injury. Hart has played in just two games this season, and leads the team with a 24.5 ppg average. Lewis has had to pick up the slack immensely since Hart's absence, netting 20.8 ppg with a team-best 16 assists and a team high-tying 5.2 rpg average (tied with Truog). Other than that, the Red Foxes (60.2 ppg) haven't had much help in terms of offense this season.

This contest will be a battle of two struggling teams, but Monmouth, although playing on the road, has some bench depth with Nicholas and a solid starting lineup that should be able to overwhelm Marist.