WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ- Monmouth had 11 players score and used a 25-2 opening-half run to beat Cornell on Tuesday night, 76-61. Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, NY/Kingston) led all scorers with 19 points and sophomore Pierre Sarr (Dakar, Senegal/Roselle Catholic) snagged 11 rebounds as the Hawks evened their record to 2-2.
Trailing 7-4 at the 14:12 mark of the opening half, an Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, DE/Archbishop Carroll) got the MU run started, and the Hawks knocked down five consecutive triples from 10:57 to 8:05, three from Robinson. The run peaked on Collin Stewart's (Glenville, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy) triple to make it 29-9 Monmouth. The Hawks took a 41-27 lead into the half and outscored Cornell 35-34 in the second to win 76-61.
NOTES AND QUOTES
-"I'm so proud of my kids, we had a tough week last week and that they came out today and played as hard as they did shows how we really play together," said head coach King Rice. "We did not play our best game but we played hard and we played together and we shared the ball."
-"I played some forward with Zac [Tillman] as freshmen so I'm not totally new to it," said senior center Chris Brady. "I play with Diago every day in practice and I know if I get him the ball in the post, he's going to score."
-"If I defend hard on the defensive end, everyone else sees that and they defend hard," said junior guard Austin Tilghman. "Once our defense gets going it gets the offense going too."
-"Our big thing has been staying together throughout the game, ups and downs, ins and outs and just making sure we are together all the time." –senior guard Justin Robinson
-Monmouth is now 2-0 at home this season.
-Justin Robinson made his 101st appearance and 98th start for the Blue and White, and is now tied for ninth with Steve Bridgemohan in career starts.
-Chris Brady played in his 105th game, the longest active streak on the team.
-Monmouth is now 2-0 all-time against Cornell.
-Tonight marked Diago Quinn's 40th career contest and Collin Stewart's 100th as a Hawk.
-MU returned to a starting lineup of Robinson, Seaborn, James, Hornbeak and Brady for the third time this season.
-The game marked Monmouth's second of four consecutive home games to open the season against a head coach in their first year at the school (Brian Earl, Cornell).
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Pierre Sarr set a career-high with 11 rebounds, leading all rebounders in the game.
-Justin Robinson had a game-high 19 points, scoring in double-digits for the 55th time in his last 61 games.
-Louie Pillari notched a career-best with six points, including his first career three-pointer.
-MU opened up a 25-2 run to go up by 20 in the opening half.
-Monmouth's largest lead was 22, coming at 9:25 of the second after Louie Pillari hit a three.
-MU held Cornell to 23.5% from deep in the game, including 18.8% in the second half.
-Monmouth moves to 8-20 all-time against Ivy League opponents.
-Sam Ibiezugbe netted a career-best six points.
-Diago Quinn tied a career-high with eight points, set in his first-ever game at UCLA.
-13 Hawks saw the floor and 11 scored, 11 grabbed a rebound and all played more than five minutes.
-Mustapha Traore pulled down six boards, a career-best.
-Justin Robinson was perfect from deep, shooting 4-of-4.
-The 61 points MU allowed were a season-low defensively.
-The Hawks picked up 38 points off the bench.
-The Blue and White led in points in the paint, points off turnovers, second chance points, fast break points and bench points.
UP NEXT
-Monmouth takes on South Carolina State at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday at Holy Cross as part of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational. The weekend continues when MU plays Holy Cross Sunday at noon.
