LARAMIE, WYO. - In its first game in the 2009 World Vision Challenge, Monmouth defeated host Wyoming, 75-73, as senior Whitney Coleman drained the game-winning jump shot with 3.6 second left, to pace the Hawks to a 75-73 victory, at the Arena-Auditorium on Friday night.

Ryan Dermody's corner three-pointer pushed UW back ahead by five, 71-66, with 3:42 remaining, but James Hett's drive and later free throw, pulled Monmouth within 71-69 with 3:02 showing.

Following back-to-back defensive stops under two minutes, Ed Waite's post move knotted the score at 73-73 with 1:19 left. After yet another defensive stop with 10 seconds left, Coleman dribbled up the floor and drained a pull up jumper in the lane with 3.6 seconds remaining to push the Hawks in front 75-73. Following a Monmouth timeout, Wyoming was unable to get of shot to extend the game.

Coleman, who hit for a season-high 24 points, connected on 7-of-10 in the game, including 8-for-8 from the free throw line to pace the Monmouth offense, while Travis Taylor, who was held scoreless in the first half, finished with his second career double-double, adding 10 points and 10 rebounds. Justin Sofman, who went 5-for-8 from beyond the arc, chipped in 16 points, while Mike Myers Keitt (11) and Waite (10 points, eight boards) rounded out five Hawks in double-figures.

"It was great how our guys hung in there tonight, and found a way to win," stated head coach Dave Calloway. "There was plenty of adversity we had to handle, with guys being out, and handling Wyoming's pressure, but we found a way to pull it out."

The Hawks netted the first four points of the game on a pair of Coleman free throws, and Waite's layup off a feed from Taylor at the 18:33 mark, and increased the lead to 7-2 at 17:04 when Sofman drained a three-pointer.

After the Cowboys pulled within 7-4 at 16:57, Monmouth strung together an 8-0 run to coral a 15-4 edge with 12:39 on the scoreboard, as Coleman's trifecta capped the run. Desmar Jackson's lay-in after a Monmouth turnover ended the Hawks' run, but Myers Keitt's basket at the rim put MU in front 17-6 with 11:11 left.

One minute later, Jackson's three-point play made the score 17-9, but Myers Keitt responded with a three-point play of his own to put the Hawks in front 20-9 with 9:49 showing. Coleman, who hit a pair of foul shots at the 8:05 mark, gave the Hawks their largest lead of the stanza, 22-10.

Two Coleman foul shots doubled up the Cowboys 24-12 with 6:27 left, but Wyoming countered with a 14-2 run over the next 3:17 to take its first lead, 27-26 with 3:10 remaining until the break.

Coleman's jumper in the lane reclaimed the lead for the Hawks, 28-27, and stopped Wyoming's 10-0 spurt with 3:00 left, but five straight Cowboy points put Wyoming ahead 32-28 with 1:50 showing.

Trailing 34-30, Myers Keitt hit a jump shot in the lane with 37 ticks left to pull Monmouth within 34-32 at the intermission. Wyoming, which trailed by as many as 12 points, on two occasions in the half, ended the stanza on a 22-8 run to claim the halftime advantage.

Consecutive Sofman three-pointers put Monmouth back in front 38-35, and coupled with Taylor's jump shot, the Hawks extended the spurt to 8-1 and gave MU a 40-35 lead with 18:03 remaining, forcing Wyoming to call timeout.

Monmouth extended its lead to seven points, twice over the next two minutes, and held a 46-39 edge with 16:12 showing as Coleman hit a jumper off an inbounds play.

Taylor, who scored six straight points for the Hawks, put Monmouth ahead 57-49 lead with 11:54 showing on the clock, but the Pokes responded with a 10-0 run to take a 59-57 lead with 8:29 remaining. Ten seconds after Dermody hit the go-ahead trifecta for the Cowboys, their first of the contest, Waite's driving hoop knotted the score at 59-59.

Following a 5-0 spurt by Wyoming, Sofman drilled back-to-back three-pointers for the Hawks to reclaim a 65-64 advantage with 6:30 on the clock. After Wyoming scored the next two baskets, Sofman's free throw with 5:00 left made the score 68-66.

Monmouth, which shot 49.1% from the floor, outrebounded the Cowboys 40-35, as Hett contributed six assists and six rebounds to the effort. With the victory, the Hawks posted their first victory over a Mountain West Conference school in program history. The Hawks entered the contest with an 0-4 mark against MWC opposition, with losses to UNLV, Wyoming, New Mexico and San Diego State.

Monmouth (2-3) returns to action in the 2009 World Vision Basketball Challenge, on Saturday, when the Hawks face Pepperdine, which defeated Hampton, 75-66, in its first-round meeting.

The naming rights to the tournament were donated to World Vision by Basketball Travelers, Inc. As a Christian humanitarian organization, World Vision aims to contribute to a 75 percent reduction in malaria cases, with the end goal of nearly zero preventable malaria deaths by 2015. World Vision works in 62 malaria-endemic countries, 23 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa.