For Monmouth (21-11), it earned the Hawks their third-ever NCAA Tournament berth. The Blue and White ran their home court record to 13-0 on the season, the first time the Hawks have gone unscathed during their tenure on the Division I level beginning in 1983-84.

"We have the best fans in the Northeast Conference," head coach Dave Calloway said. "And that’s why we are undefeated at home."

Monmouth opened the game, one by senior Jason Krayl (Point Pleasant Beach, NJ/Christian Brothers) and a back-door basket by junior Dwayne Byfield (Elmont, NY/St. Mary’s), to take a 4-0 advantage. After a Rich Pittman (Boston, MA/Thayer Academy) offensive rebound and putback that cut the lead to 4-2, the Hawks built a 10-2 cushion at 14:57, forcing four CCSU turnovers, while the Blue Devils went 1-for-7 from the floor.

Pittman broke the scoring draught at 14:24, after head coach Howie Dickenman called a timeout with a jumper in the lane, before Monmouth junior Blake Hamilton (Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin) put the Blue and White back ahead 12-4 going into the first television break.

An Azzarelli 3-pointer at 11:17 squelched a mini-CCSU run that cut the lead to 12-8 at 11:33 after DeMario Anderson (Fort Washington, MD/Oxon Hill) skied for and offensive tip-in and 2004 NEC Player of the Year Ron Robinson (Bronx, NY/Winchendon) drained a jumpshot from the wing.

At 7:21, Monmouth’s first-team All-NEC performer Blake Hamilton picked up his second personal foul, before CCSU cut the Hawks’ cushion to 19-17 at 6:20 after consecutive Robinson baskets, which included a break-away slam dunk.

The Hawks went cold from the field, going scoreless since the 9:37 mark, as Central climbed back into the game, tying the score at 19-19 with 3:28 showing, as Javier Mojica (Auburn, MA/Auburn) dropped in a layup. Byfield helped MU recapture a two-point edge with 3;03 left with his jumper in the lane, before Azzarelli’s three-point play bolstered the Monmouth lead to 24-19 going into the final official timeout of the stanza.

Krayl’s driving layup at 1:24 pushed the Monmouth lead to seven, 26-19, while the Blue Devils managed one point, an Anderson free throw with 0:00.7 showing after his offensive rebound to end the half, making the tally 26-20 as the teams went to the lockerroom.

Azzarelli led all scorers going into intermission, as the sophomore guard connected on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field for 12 points. Each Hamilton and Krayl went 2-for-3 from the floor for four points, while the Hawks outshot the Blue Devils, hitting on 46.2% (12-26) to CCSU’s 29.0% (9-31).

"I struggled scoring this year," Azzarelli, who came into the game averaging 3.4 points per game, "But our offense is designed to get the layups and I got them today. Blake (Hamilton) and the rest of the guys were really screening well and I just tried to run off them."

The Blue Devils countered the Monmouth torrid shooting by outrebounding the Blue and White 21-15, which included nine offensive boards.

Robinson, who hit on 5-of-10 field goals, led CCSU with 10 points and five rebounds. Pittman contributed four points and four rebounds for the Blue Devils.

Coming out of the break, a Boxler jumper and a Krayl trifecta, gave Monmouth a 31-20 cushion at 17:41, before the teams traded baskets over the next two minutes. Boxler’s half-hook at 12:34 and sophomore Chris Kenny’s (Spring Lake, NJ/Christian Brothers) 3-pointer at 11:48 gave Monmouth its largest lead of the contest, 42-29, as the Hawks’ defense held CCSU scoreless for 5:40, before a pair of Pittman foul shots ended the draught.

The Blue and White increased their lead to 44-31, with 10:23 showing as Kenny connected on his second consecutive basket, while the Hawks’ defense forced five CCSU turnovers in the stretch.

Robinson ended the Blue Devils’ field goal draught at the 8:02 mark, which spanned almost nine minutes, with a baseline drive and dunk that sliced the lead to 44-33 going into a timeout.

Hamilton, who succumbed to Central’s defense for much of the game, answered Robinson’s jam, with a one-handed slam of his own with 6:33 remaining, which pushed the Hawks’ advantage back to 13 points, 46-33.

Central continued its poor shooting from the floor in the second stanza, as the Blue Devils connected on 4-of-18 field goal attempts in the first 15 minutes of the second half.

With five minutes left, senior Russ Anderson (Chester, NY/Don Bosco Prep) found Azzarelli on a back cut in the lane, which lead to a layup, pushing Monmouth’s cushion to 48-33. On the next possession, Monmouth forced a Central turnover, which Azzarelli corralled, diving on the floor and calling timeout before a tie-up was whistled, maintaining possession for the Hawks.

With the lead Monmouth leading 50-35 with 2:30 left in the game, Central got back in the contest with a 3-pointer by Anderson, two trifectas each from Mojica and Chiera to cut the lead to 62-55 with 39 seconds remaining, but Azzarelli, Hamilton and Anderson hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch.

Azzarelli led Monmouth with 19 points and added four steals.

"I’m not surprised he (Azzarelli) made baskets," Robinson said. "He is a Division player."

Hamilton, the Northeast Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player chipped in with 10 points despite being shut down most of the first half.

"We took the season as a team," Hamilton said. "I don’t have to be the man. We have plenty of men on this team and tonight Tyler (Azzarelli) was the man."

Pittman led Central with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Robinson, the Northeast Conference Regular Season Most Valuable Player added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Mojica notched 11 points.

"You win with class and you lose with class," Central Connecticut State head coach Howie Dickenman said. "Monmouth has a lot of good people on their team, as do we. We ran our plays. They defended them. They were well prepared."

2004 NEC All-Tournament Team
Tamien Trent (FDU) - 19.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 4.0 apg
Ron Robinson (CCSU) - 15.3 ppg, 11.3 rpg|
Dwayne Byfield (MU) - 11.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg
Tyler Azzarelli (MU) - 9.7 ppg, 4.0 rpg, Game-high 19 points in title game
Blake Hamilton (MU) - 14.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg