HAMDEN, CT- Monmouth got 10 triples between Collin Stewart (Glenville, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy) and Je'lon Hornbeak (Arlington, TX/Grace Prep/Oklahoma) and pulled away in the second half in winning its fourth game in a row, 91-72 at Quinnipiac Thursday. Four Hawks scored in double figures and 11 Monmouth players scored as the Hawks moved to 1-0 in MAAC play.
Hornbeak netted three long balls in 46 seconds and Stewart knocked home four triples in the first half to open up the lead that ended up at 11 at the break. MU opened up a lead of as many as 24 at one point, hitting 14 three-pointers in the game and limiting the Bobcats to under 36% shooting.
NOTES AND QUOTES
"I have a bunch of kids that can really shoot and would be known as shooters, and you would not want them to get an open look," said head coach King Rice. "Tonight we moved it around and moved it around and continued to get open looks and when these guys get open looks, they're going to make them."
"We're going to win because of our defense. Our guys took it kind of personally to guard tonight because we saw them win against Indiana State and we saw them play Seton Hall very tough." –Head Coach King Rice
"My mindset coming into the game was to play defense and get rebounds and my shots fell, so I'm happy about that." –senior guard Collin Stewart
"The main thing we wanted to do tonight was play defense, we know they've always been a good rebounding team so we wanted to keep them off the glass." –senior guard Je'lon Hornbeak
-Monmouth is now 16-19 all-time against Quinnipiac.
-Monmouth opened December 1-0 after going 5-2 in the month a year ago.
-Je'lon Hornbeak had five first-half steals to tie a career high.
-Collin Stewart knocked down five threes to set a career-high.
-Hornbeak hit three long balls in 46 seconds from 5:28 to 4:42 of the opening half.
-MU was just one point shy in the second half of its highest scoring half of the season (1st vs. Drexel).
-Justin Robinson has 24 assists in his last three games.
-Chaise Daniels had the games only double-double for QU with 13 points and 10 boards.
-The Hawks topped QU in points off turnovers, second chance points and fast break points.
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-11 Hawks scored, including eight in the first half.
-The Hawks outran QU 8-0 in the first half on the fast break and 17-0 for the game.
-Stewart had his second career 20-point game and finished one off his career-best of 21.
-Stewart was a perfect 6-6 from the floor and 5-5 from deep.
-Robinson scored 10 points and has been in double digits in every game this year.
-MU scored a season-best 91 points, the first 90-point outing since the 2016 NIT vs. Bucknell.
-Monmouth shot 48.4% compared to 35.9% for the Bobcats.
UP NEXT
Monmouth hosts Canisius to wrap up the opening weekend of MAAC play on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. The game will air on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN application.
