WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Monmouth University men's basketball team held Lehigh to a season-low 39 points en route to a 67-39 victory in Boylan Gymnasium on Friday night.
The Hawks, who last held an opponent to under 40 points in last year's win over Princeton, forced Lehigh into 28.9 percent shooting and 19 turnovers in the contest.
“We played together as a group on both ends of the floor,” said Monmouth Head Coach Dave Calloway. “Every guy was out there for each other, it was a total team effort.”
Monmouth, which opened the contest with a 5-0 spurt, outscored the Mountain Hawks 9-0 over a 3:20 span to secure a 17-7 advantage with 11:39 remaining in the half, capped by a John Bunch offensive rebound and put-back. Jhamar Youngblood, making his second start of the year, netted five of the Hawks' nine in the run.
Lehigh's Bryan White connected on a three-point play to trim the advantage to 17-10, before the Mountain Hawks pulled within 17-12, with 10:20 left until the break. The Blue and White reclaimed a 10-point edge when Alex Nunner drained a corner three-pointer with 8:18 left, staking MU to a 22-12 lead.
Monmouth claimed a 29-16 lead with 4:35 showing, when John Bunch slammed home a dunk off a feed from Marques Alston, before Jose Olivera quelled the run with a pair of free throws with 3:44 remaining. The Hawks, who led by as many as 14 points, 32-18, held Lehigh to five free throws over the final 7:45 of the opening half, as Monmouth held a 32-19 edge at the intermission.
Monmouth's defense, which held Lehigh to just five field goals in the first half, smothered the Mountain Hawks into a season-low 19 points at the break.
MU held a 38-24 edge with 15:10 showing after two Bunch free throws, before Marquis Hall connected on his seventh straight point to open the second half. Hall's jump shot in the lane after a Lehigh offensive rebound trimmed the lead to 38-26 with 14:40 left in the contest.
The Blue and White scored the next 12 points to claim a 50-26 with 10:08 left, as Dejan Delic connected on a three-pointer from the top of the key. Marquis Hall, who scored the Mountain Hawks' first 10 points of the second half, drained a three of his own in front of his own bench to make the score 50-29 with 9:45 showing.
Back to back baskets, including a corner trifecta, from Corey Hallett gave the Hawks a 61-37 advantage with 3:40 remaining.
Monmouth's defense held Lehigh to a season-low 39 points in the game, holding the Mountain Hawks 32 points below their season average. Lehigh managed just 20 points in the second half, which came from just two players (Hall with 15 pts & Kyle Neptune with five). In Monmouth's previous three contests, all losses, the Hawks were giving up an average of 77.7 points per contest.
Lehigh, who fell to 5-10 with the loss, were led by Hall, who had 18 points. Bryan White led the Mountain Hawks with nine rebounds.
Youngblood had a team-high 16 points, with three assists and two steals. Dejan Delic had a season-high six assists, while chipping in nine points. Alston finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Bunch finished with eight rebounds to lead the Hawks, while adding seven points and three blocks. Monmouth shot 47 percent in the game while committing just 10 turnovers.
Monmouth returns to action on Sunday, December 31, as the Hawks host Loyola Marymount University in their final non-conference game of the season. Tip off is set for 1:30 p.m. LMU was picked second behind Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference preseason poll.
