SHANGHAI, China- Led by 16 points from rising sophomore guard Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, Del./Archbishop Carroll (Pa.)), the Monmouth University basketball team opened its foreign tour with a 72-62 defeat at the hands of the Shanghai Sharks, a professional team and member of the Chinese Basketball Association on Saturday night at the Donghui School in Shanghai.
“I thought our kids really tried hard today under heavy legs from traveling and going and walking around a lot,” said Head Coach King Rice. “I thought we competed pretty hard and I thought the international game is hard to get used to when you first start but overall I thought our kids played extremely hard and we're excited to play them again on Monday night.”
Monmouth's first five points of the night came from transfer Je'Lon Hornbeak (Arlington, Texas/Grace Prep/Oklahoma), who scored on a tip-in and then drilled a straightaway three. Shanghai went up 7-2 before the Hornbeak three, but Tilghman went on his first spurt of the night, ripping off six in a row with a free throw, a strong reverse layup and a three-point play to cut the Shanghai lead to 18-13.
MU trimmed the Sharks lead to just three at the end of the first quarter when Greg Noack (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty), back in action after redshirting last season, canned a left wing triple to make it 19-16 with 18 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Shanghai started the second period with a 7-0 run, halted on Chris Brady (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields)'s baby hook from the left baseline to make the score 26-18. The Blue and White closed the half on a 10-5 run, sparked by Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, N.Y./Kingston), who stole a ball at half court and scored on a hesitation move to make it 27-20. Consecutive weak side offensive rebounds and put backs from Noack and graduated senior Max DiLeo (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson) cut the Shanghai lead to six. Josh James (Greenburgh, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinas), also back on the floor after missing the end of last season with an injury, came down with the clock winding down to finish on a fast break, making the score 32-28 Sharks at halftime.
Out of the break, Monmouth got within one after Tilghman converted on a fast break tic-tac-toe between himself, Robinson and Hornbeak and Brady cleaned up a loose ball with a basket. Shanghai answered with two straight three-pointers to give them a 39-32 edge with 5:41 left in the third.
Later in the quarter, Deon Jones (Wilmington, Del./Sanford School/Towson) scored on a strong take to the rim and Brady hammered home a dunk with one hand, trimming the Sharks lead to 7, 49-42 after three.
Robinson went on a run of his own in the early stages of the fourth, putting home a runner in the lane and burying a three from the top of the key to make it 55-47 with 7:43 left. Tilghman put home a baseline drive, and James scored on a breakaway after a steal to make it to 67-55 with just over three left.
Late in the game, Mike DeLorenzo (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) snagged an offensive rebound and hit Robinson on the move before he converted an elbow jumper, and Zac Tillman (Yeadon, Pa./Shipley School) gathered and finished to make it 72-60 with just over a minute remaining. Tilghman converted again for MU in the closing seconds, but that would be the final as Shanghai took it, 72-62.
Some unofficial stats from the game included Tilghman leading Monmouth with 16, Noack grabbing seven rebounds and Robinson also hitting double figures with 11.
The Hawks will take on the same Shanghai Sharks team Monday night at 7:00 p.m. local time in China. For all updates, follow @MonmouthBBall on Twitter. All updates throughout the trip can be found here: http://www.monmouthhawks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=62255&SPID=6806&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=210102893&DB_OEM_ID=14300
More Rice quotes:
On sophomore G Austin Tilghman's performance: Austin Tilghman played very well, I thought he was the main kid that came so prepared to play that he didn't let his legs being tired get in the way. He was really, really good out there, he scored the ball, got people involved, attacked the rim, and did things that we all know he can do and things I'm looking forward to him doing more of this year.
On the differences of the international game (game was played in four ten-minute quarters with a 24-second shot clock): I thought their size and the physicality of the game, obviously it's a pro international game and the physicality of the game. It was both ways, it was a very physical game, and the more physical we got it wasn't the best way for us to play.
Unofficial quick stats
James: 6 points, 1 rebound
DiLeo: 2 points, 1 rebound
Noack: 5 points, 7 rebounds
Jones: 4 points, 1 rebound
Hornbeak: 5 points, 5 rebounds
Robinson: 11 points, 3 rebounds
Tilghman: 16 points, 4 rebounds
Stewart: 0 points, 1 rebound
Tillman: 5 points, 5 rebounds
Brady: 6 points, 1 rebound
