WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J.- Led by Dejan Delic's (Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro/Bridgton Academy) 19 points and perfect night from beyond the arc, Monmouth University's men's basketball team improved to 8-12 (3-5 NEC) on Thursday night with a 69-64 home win over Saint Francis (Pa.).
The win was MU head coach Dave Calloway's 100th Northeast Conference victory, as he became just the seventh coach in league history to reach the plateau.
Monmouth's Marques Alston (Neptune, N.J./Neptune) gave the Hawks the lead on their first possession of the second half, after his team trailed going into halftime. After losing the lead, MU's Whitney Coleman (Salem, Conn./St. Thomas More) hit a three pointer to give the Hawks a 38-37 lead. The Hawks clung to a two point lead before Corey Hallett (Shelburne, Nova Scotia/Shelburne) threw down a dunk to give MU a 48-44 lead with 12:27 showing on the scoreboard.
Monmouth's defense stepped up over the next five minutes, building a 55-49 lead with just over six minutes left. After leaving with an injury in the early part of the frame, Delic hit a three pointer to give the Hawks a 58-51 lead. The senior forward was deadly from beyond the arc, going 5-for-5 with that made basket. Saint Francis' Mislav Jukic hit a three pointer to slice the MU lead to six with 3:39 to play. The Red Flash would not go away quietly, as they closed the gap to four with 1:09 left on a layup. Mike Shipman's (Bronx, N.Y./Middletown) three pointer rolled around the rim as Boylan went silent but eventually found the bottom of the bucket to give MU a seven point lead with under a minute to play. The lead was too much to overcome for Saint Francis, as the Hawks sealed the 71?66 victory by hitting their free throws down the stretch.
The Hawks started off on the right foot with Delic hitting a three pointer. A quick Coleman bucket put the Hawks up 5-2 but SFU's J.R. Enright tied the game with a trey of his own. Delic hit his second three of the game to give MU the lead but the Red Flash took their first lead of the game with five minutes expired in the game. The two teams traded points and the lead, with Saint Francis owning a 18-17 advantage with 10:31 left in the half. SFU's Devin Sweetney hit a three pointer to give his squad a 25-20 lead as the Hawks were unable to convert on the offensive end of the floor. Shipman hit a layup to cut the lead to three, a lead that diminished on the next Hawk possession after a Coleman three pointer. Delic gave the Hawks their first lead in over six minutes on a backdoor layup fed from Shipman. Delic scored his 13th point of the night on the next Blue & White possession, completing the 9-0 MU run. A Chris Berry jumper with under a minute to play in the half gave SFU a 35-31 lead, but Delic's buzzer beater from 30 feet cut the SFU lead to one going into the break.
The Hawks finished shooting 7-for-13, 53 %, from three point land, which is a season high for the Blue & White. Monmouth shot 60 percent from the floor, while Saint Francis finished shooting 55.6 percent. The Hawks were dominated on the glass, being out-rebounded 27-13 in the game.
Delic led the Hawks in scoring with 19 points, while three other players tallied double-digit scoring efforts. Coleman finished with 16 points on the night, while Jhamar Youngblood (Newark, N.J./Saint Patrick's) had11 and Alston finished with 10. Shipman finished with a game-high five assists in the game and led the Hawks in rebounding with four.
Sweetney led all players in scoring and rebounding with 22 and 13, respectively. Chris Berry and Marquis Ford had nine points each for the Red Flash.
Alston and Delic were honored before tip-off for becoming the 16th and 17th players to score 1,000 points in Monmouth's history. The Hawks are back in action on Saturday night with a home game against NEC opponent Robert Morris. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
