ESPN Men's Basketball

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. -- Jesse Steele scored 26 points and Ed Waite missed just one shot en route to 23 points as Monmouth defeated St. Francis Brooklyn 73-64 Saturday night.

Steele made 7 of 14 shots and all 10 of his free throw attempts while Waite knocked down 10 of 11 tries from the field. Stephen Spinella went 5-of-7 shooting for Monmouth (10-17, 5-9 Northeast Conference), which shot a season-high 56.5 percent (26 of 46).

St. Francis (10-15, 6-8), which trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, clawed back to tie it at 55 with 6:40 left to play. But Monmouth scored the next six points -- four coming from the charity stripe -- to pull away.

The Terriers did not get any closer than four the rest of the way as Monmouth sank 10 free throws in the last 3:35.

Travis Nichols led St. Francis with 20 points.