WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Powered by four players in double-digits, including freshman
Ed Waite's 17 points, and senior
Whitney Coleman's 16 points, the Monmouth University men's basketball team evened its Northeast Conference record at 1-1, with a 72-60 victory over Quinnipiac on Saturday night.
The Hawks, now 5-9 overall, improved to 4-2 at home on the season, as Waite tied a season-high and added six rebounds, four assists and three steals in the victory.
Travis Taylor, who scored in double-figures for a 16th straight game, added 14 points and seven rebounds, while
Will Campbell contributed 14 points.
QU's James Johnson opened the scoring, pouring in the first five points of the game, as the Bobcats went ahead 5-0 at 17:34, but the Hawks responded with a Campbell three-pointer and Waite's three-point play to grab a 6-5 lead 1:06 later. Monmouth pushed its edge to 12-7 at 13:51 on Taylor's post move, and to 16-10 on his drive with 12:16 on the clock.
The Bobcats pulled within 16-14 after back-to-back baskets, but Waite's drive down the middle ignited a 5-0 spurt, which was capped by
Justin Sofman's three-pointer in transition, as the Hawks went ahead 21-14 with 7:47 showing.
Quinnipiac responded with an 8-0 run over the next 3:35 to reclaim the lead, 22-21, with 4:12 remaining, as consecutive three-point trips capped the spurt.
After a Taylor free throw knotted the score at 22-22, and
James Hett's drive tied the game at 24-24, QU went ahead 27-24 with 1:25 left on James Feldeine's fast break.
Monmouth ended the half by scoring the final seven points, including Coleman's trey with 2.0 tick remaining, to take a 31-27 lead into the intermission.
The Blue and White expanded its lead to 37-31 out of the break, as back-to-back drives from Waite and Campbell gave Monmouth a six-point edge with 17:22 left. The Bobcats responded with a 9-1 spurt to tie the score at 37-37, and corral a 40-38 lead on Dave Johnson's three-pointer with 15:29 showing.
After the Bobcats took a 41-38 advantage, Monmouth netted six straight points, including a Hett corner trey, to grab a 44-41 edge with 13:27 left.
With the game tied at 44-44 after Feldeine's transition layup, Campbell's wing three-pointer with 11:53 on the board, put Monmouth in front 47-44.
A pair of baskets from Waite, and consecutive Coleman three-pointers, pushed Monmouth's advantage to 57-48 with 6:45 remaining.
Monmouth increased its run to 17-4 over a seven-minute span to grab a 61-48 lead, on a Taylor hoop off a feed from Hett, with 5:37 showing.
QU strung together a 6-1 run to pull within eight points, 62-54, but Coleman's wing three-pointer, his fourth trey of the game, handed the Hawks a 65-54 lead with 2:55 left.
The Hawks drained seven free throws in the final 1:50 to maintain the lead.
Monmouth shot 46.3% from the floor in the game, and forced 23 Quinnipiac turnovers.
Monmouth returns to action on Thursday, January 7, when the Hawks host Central Connecticut State in Northeast Conference play, at 7:00 p.m., in the MAC.
POSTGAME TRANSCRIPTS
1/2/10 VS. QUINNIPIAC
MONMOUTH HEAD COACH DAVE CALLOWAY
Opening Remarks:
"Quinnipiac is one of the top teams in the league and it felt good to defend our home court. We were very good defensively tonight. We still need to cut down on our turnovers, but we are improving."
"It's only one game and this experience will help us build as the season goes on."
FRESHMAN FORWARD ED WAITE
"It's a league game and everybody was pumped up. This was a 40-minute battle and I like games likes this."
SENIOR GUARD WHITNEY COLEMAN
"I was so pumped up to play our first league game in the MAC. The energy was going throughout my body all night, it was a great atmosphere. It's not hard for me to get pumped for a league game; I've been through so many of these and I take each league game personal."
