EMMITSBURG, Md.- Monmouth's second half defense helped pace the Hawks to a 61-60 victory at Mount St. Mary's in Knott Arena on Saturday night. The win improves the Hawks to 12-15 overall and 7-8 in the NEC, while the Mount falls to 9-18 and 8-8 in the league.
Freshman Jhamar Youngblood connected on a corner three-pointer with 17.7 seconds left to give the Hawks a 61-60 edge and the Hawks made two defensive stands the remainder of the way, en route to the victory.
The win marks Monmouth's first win at Mount since 2002-2003, as the Hawks gain a game on Long Island in the NEC standings.
Monmouth played catch-up for most of the first half, as a Mount assumed a 14-7 lead after a 6-0 spurt with 12:15 showing in the opening half. John Bunch, who scored nine straight points for the Hawks, pulled MU within 16-12 at 10:25 with his traditional three-point play, but the Mountaineers answered with a 12-6 run to take a 28-18 lead with 3:24 until the break.
The Blue and White, paced by an 8-2 spurt in the final 3:10, trimmed the lead to 30-26 at the intermission. Marques Alston's left-handed drive started the run, while Whitney Coleman connected on a corner three-pointer behind a Corey Hallett screen and Alex Nunner drilled a wing trey.
Monmouth scored the first five points out of the locker room to grab a 31-30 advantage after Dejan Delic's corner three, giving the Hawks their first lead since it was 2-0.
The Hawks, who led by as many as six points, 52-46, allowed back-to-back three pointers by Mychal Kearse and Chris Vann with 2:49 remaining, as the Mount knotted the score at 52-52.
MSM, behind a Kearse layup, went ahead 60-56 with 49.8 ticks left before Delic connected on two free throws to pull MU within 60-58 with 40.8 seconds left. On the inbounds, Monmouth forced a turnover which led to the Youngblood trifecta.
Bunch's two misses from the charity stripe with 4.7 ticks remaining, left the door open for Kearse's shot, which fell off the rim at the buzzer.
Alston led Monmouth with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Bunch added a double-double with 11 points and a game and career-high 14 rebounds. Youngblood and Delic added nine points apiece for the Hawks, who connected on 42.0% from the field.
Monmouth returns to action on Tuesday, when the Hawks travel to Brooklyn, for an NEC contest at Long Island University. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
