LORETTO, PA. ? Jhamar Youngblood's pull-up jumper in the lane with 15.1 seconds left, and Whitney Coleman's career-high 27 points, paced Monmouth to a 51-50 Northeast Conference victory at Saint Francis University on Saturday afternoon.
The win, Monmouth's first road victory of the season, improves the Hawks' record to 4-11 overall and 1-2 in the NEC. SFU, which has lost five straight, falls to 3-11 and 1-2 in league play.
Trailing 50-49 with 44 seconds remaining, Monmouth's defense forced a turnover, setting the stage for Youngblood's heroics, as the guard dropped in a pull-up jumper in the lane to give the Hawks a 51-50 lead. Cale Nelson's game-winning attempt at the buzzer fell short for the Red Flash.
Monmouth opened up a 10-4 lead at 15:08, when Coleman drained a step-back three-pointer from the top of the key. Coleman's drive gave the Hawks a 14-8 advantage with 11:56 remaining until halftime, but the Red Flash rattled off a 7-0 run over the next 1:31 to grab their first lead of the game, 15-14, with 10:25 showing.
Coleman's jumper with 5:30 remaining put the Hawks ahead one last time in the opening stanza, as Monmouth held a slim 19-18 edge. After SFU went ahead 22-19 on Chris Berry's offensive rebound and put-back, Coleman's three-point play knotted the score at 22-22.
SFU, which connected on 10-of-14 free throws in the first half, held a 24-22 lead at the break after two Berry charity shots.
Alex Nunner drained a corner trey out of the break to reclaim the lead for the Hawks, but paced by six points from Devin Sweetney, SFU rallied to grab a 36-31 cushion with 14:07 remaining.
Coleman's three-pointer with 8:45 left tied the score at 38-38, and James Hett's three-point play with 8:01 showing, gave the Blue and White a 41-38 edge.
SFU responded and built a three-point lead with 3:29 remaining, 48-45, when Nelson dropped in a layup.
Monmouth scored the next four points, a Nick DelTufo transition layup and a Coleman back door lay-in with 2:03 left, to take a 49-48 lead.
Berry dropped in a layup with one second left on the shot clock to give the Red Flash a 50-49 lead.
Coleman led all scorers with a career-high 27 points, as the junior hit 12-of-14 from the floor. His outing tied for third all-time in Monmouth single-game field goal percentage (.857). DelTufo added eight points for the Hawks, as Monmouth connected on 51.2% from the field for the game.
Saint Francis, which grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, had three players score 10 points apiece.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, January 10, when the Hawks host Wagner in NEC action at 7 p.m., in Boylan Gym.
