PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Monmouth University shot a season-best 56.3% from the field as the Hawks defeated Penn 71-56 on Wednesday night in the Palestra, highlighted by Deon Jones' (Wilmington, Del./Sanford School) game-high 17 points and six rebounds. Monmouth, which won its fifth straight road game, improved to 10-9 overall on the season.
Joining Jones in double-figures were Max DiLeo (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson), who scored all 12 of his points in the first half and Collin Stewart (Glenville, N.Y./Mekeel Christian Academy), who tallied 12 points as well. Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, N.Y./Kingston) and Brice Kofane (Yaounde, Cameroon/Miller School/Providence) added eight points each, while Zac Tillman (Yeadon, Pa./Shipley School) notched seven points and four rebounds.
Monmouth, which hit 60.0% from the floor in the first half, en route to opening up a 19-point lead at the break, connected on a season-high 56.3% (27-48), which included 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Powered by two baskets each from Jones and Kofane, Monmouth grabbed a 10-2 lead at 16:05, and pushed its advantage to 18-6 with 13:41 showing following a DiLeo three-pointer and fast break lay-up. A Stewart three-pointer as the shot clock expired put the Hawks ahead 21-10, before an 8-2 spurt from the Quakers allowed Penn to get within 23-18 with 7:44 left.
Consecutive Robinson three-pointers halted the Quakers' streak and gave Monmouth a 29-18 edge at 6:08, and the Hawks ended the stanza on a 9-0 run over the final 2:10 to take a 42-23 lead into the intermission, their largest halftime lead of the season.
A pair of Jones free throws and Tillman's short jumper gave Monmouth its largest lead, 46-23, with 18:23 remaining, before the Quakers cut the deficit to 11, 63-52, with 3:39 left on the clock. After Penn climbed within 65-54 with 3:00 showing, Monmouth outscored the Quakers 6-0 over a 1:31 span to control the game 71-54 on an Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, Del./Archbishop Carroll) foul shot with 43.2 seconds remaining.
Monmouth, which led from start-to-finish, held its seventh opponent in the 50's in the scoring column.
Monmouth returns to action on Friday, January 23 when the Hawks host Niagara University at 7:00 p.m. in the MAC on ESPN3 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play.
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