PHILADELPHIA, PA – Junior guard Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, NY/Kingston) scored a career-best 28 points for the second consecutive game and Monmouth outscored Drexel 51-37 in the second half to defeat the Dragons 82-74 on Saturday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Monmouth improves to 2-1 on the season while Drexel falls to 0-3.
"I'm really proud of our kids, we really stuck together," said head coach King Rice. "[Drexel head coach] Bruiser Flint and Drexel I thought did a great job with their defensive intensity. They were very physical and made it hard for our guys to get going, but then Justin Robinson got going and Josh James got our defense going."
Monmouth used a 17-7 run to take the lead for good, going in front with 12:11 remaining on a left-handed slam from Collin Stewart (Glenville, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy). Micah Seaborn (Fort Worth, TX/Prime Prep) knocked down a corner triple, followed by a Stewart trey to extend the lead to six. Je'lon Hornbeak (Arlington, TX/Grace Prep [Oklahoma]) then had five points in a three-possession span, with Seaborn hitting another three in between to extend the lead all the way to 11, 69-58 with 8:52 to go.
The highest the lead extended was that 11-point gap, with Drexel cutting it to as slim as six down the stretch. Rashann London nailed a corner three to cut the Monmouth lead to six with 3:53 to go, but immediately was pushed back to 10 on drives from Robinson and Hornbeak, the latter on a pretty spin move to get through the lane. Robinson hit a slicing drive and reverse to make the lead 11 in the final minute and another London three-ball made it 82-74 before the Dragons allowed Robinson to dribble out the remaining clock.
The Blue and White came out of the locker room hot after halftime, as Deon Jones (Wilmington, DE/Sanford School [Towson]) banked home a pair from the left side to cut into the Drexel lead. Two possessions later, Robinson reeled in a loose ball, stepped outside the three-point arc and drilled a three-pointer to cut the deficit to one. Hornbeak would hit two free throws to give Monmouth the lead, and neither team would lead by more than three until Stewart's three at 10:36.
Monmouth fell behind 6-0 after four points early from Drexel's Rodney Williams before a 14-0 run put MU up eight. Robinson heated up with two long threes after finding Josh James (Greenburgh, NY/Archbishop Stepinac) in transition, putting Monmouth up 10-6. The lead cushioned to 14-6 after Chris Brady (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) grabbed two offensive boards and eventually finished his third attempt and Je'lon Hornbeak flashed up the floor to make it 14-6.
Monmouth outshot Drexel from the floor on the day, hitting on 50.9% FG compared to 43.9% for the home team. MU was 46.7% from three and 73.9% from the line, with Drexel 31.8% and 63% in those same areas. Robinson led the way with 28 on 10-17 and 3-7 from deep with four assists and four steals. Hornbeak scored 17 points, his most as a Hawk, with four rebounds on 4-7 shooting. Brady had 10 points and nine boards with Jones tying a career-best with 13 rebounds.
London had 20 on five triples for Drexel, while Rodney Williams and Tavon Allen also found their way into double-figures. Kazembe Abif posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
The Hawks return to action on Thanksgiving night at 6:30pm when they travel to Orlando, FL to open the 2015 Advocare Invitational against Notre Dame on ESPNU.
