Monmouth Wins Home Opener, 73-50

WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Monmouth University connected on 54.3% from the floor, while eight different Hawks scored at least six points, led by Deon Jones’ (Wilmington, Del./Sanford School) 14, as the Blue & White defeated Bethune-Cookman University 73-50 in its home opener on Friday night, as part of the 2014 CBE Hall of Fame Classic.

“I am very excited about this win tonight,” said head coach King Rice. “Our team is getting better and they are working extremely hard. I felt bad for them after last week because I thought we played well enough to win, but we didn’t want to bring a downer into this week, and the kids have been outstanding getting prepared for a tough weekend and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Monmouth (25-for-46 FG) won its home opener for the 19th time in its Division I history, as Jones scored in double-figures for the 36th time in his career, tying a career-high with three made three-pointers, while Josh James (Greenburgh, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac), Andrew Nicholas (Wrightsville, Pa./Eastern York) and Zac Tillman (Yeadon, Pa./Shipley School) each added eight points apiece. In addition, Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, N.Y./Kingston) tallied seven points and six assists, while freshman Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, Del./Archbishop Carrol) notched seven points, six rebounds and three assists.

Monmouth took the lead for good with 14:27 on the clock in the first half on Jones’ first three-pointer, giving the Hawks a 7-6 advantage, which was built to a 19-8 edge behind consecutive Tilghman full court drives to cap a 15-2 run at the 9:33 mark.

The Hawks grabbed a 29-16 lead on another Jones trey from the corner with 2:13 showing, while a James lay-in as time expired on the half, put MU ahead 32-19 at the break.

Back-to-back offensive rebounds and putbacks from Robinson and Tillman gave the Blue & White a 40-25 advantage with 15:10 left, while Collin Stewart (Glenville, N.Y./Mekeel Christian Academy) threw down an alley-oop dunk off a feed from Tilghman with 13:24 showing to put MU in front 44-27.

A 9-0 run, which included four points from Max DiLeo (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson), pushed the Hawks to a 53-29 lead at 10:14, while his lay-in with 2:01 remaining gave Monmouth its largest lead of 26 points, 71-45.

Monmouth outscored BCU 42-16 in the paint and turned 22 Wildcat turnovers into 23 points.

Clemmye Owens led all scorers with 22 points, 17 of which came in the second half, while Quentin Brewer added 12 for Bethune-Cookman (1-2).

Rice added, “Thank you to all the fans who came out tonight. It was great seeing a bunch of people out there supporting the Hawks.”

Redshirt freshman Ba'shawn Mickens (Summit, N.J./Summit) also scored his first career points for Monmouth, while senior Mike DeLorenzo (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) and freshman Daniel Pillari (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) made their first career appearances.

Monmouth returns to action Saturday night, when the Hawks host Central Connecticut State on the second day of action in the 2014 CBE Hall of Fame Classic in the MAC. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m., following Bethune-Cookman and Towson at 5:00 p.m.

(This game was not broadcast on the Shore Sports Network).