BUIES CREEK – The Fighting Camels lost their fourth straight and first home game of the year in a 88-73 loss to Monmouth Saturday afternoon.
 
Campbell falls to 9-12, 3-5 in the CAA. Monmouth improves to 10-11, 4-4.
 
Jeremiah Johnson finished as Campbell's top scorer with 21 points, leading four Camels in double figures. Tasos Cook and Cam Gregory each had 15, and Muneer Newton had 10.  
 
Monmouth largely bottled DJ Smith on the day, holding the CAA's top scorer in league play to nine points on the afternoon.
 
A back-and-forth first half saw Monmouth take a 42-40 lead into the break. Cook and and Gregory each hit a pair of threes in the first half to pace the Camels with 10 points in the first 20 minutes.
 
It was all Monmouth in the second half, as the Hawks outscored Campbell 46-33 in the second half. The Camels made just one field goal in the final six minutes with some free throws mixed into the scoring. The Camels trailed by as many as 16 and never made it closer than eight.
 
Monmouth was led by a game-high 24 points from Justin Ray who went 5-8 from downtown, leading five Hawks in double figures. Jason Rivera-Torres notched a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Monmouth beat Campbell 43-27 on the glass, including a plus-16 mark in the second half.  
 
The Hawks shot 62.5% in the second half, the second straight game the Camels allowed their opponent to shoot better than 60% in the second half. Monmouth finished shooting 58% from the floor, while the Camels shot 39%.
 
Campbell returns to action Thursday Jan. 29 at home against Stony Brook. Tip-off is set for 7pm on FloCollege.