Men's Basketball February 05, 2016 Monmouth Sports Information

SEVEN IN DOUBLE-FIGURES LEAD MEN'S BASKETBALL TO 91-67 WIN OVER FAIRFIELD FRIDAY

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Seven Hawks scored in double-figures, led by a career-high 16 from Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, DE/Archbishop Carroll [PA]) as the Monmouth men's basketball team beat Fairfield 91-67 at The MAC on Friday night. MU is now 19-5, 11-2 in conference and 7-0 at home while Fairfield falls to 12-11 and 6-7 in league.

"I'm very excited about how our team played tonight," said head coach King Rice. "I think tonight showed our defense can really get after people."

Fairfield would trim the lead to five on a Marcus Gilbert take with 13:14 to go, but the Hawks strung together a 10-0 run with a three-point play from Tilghman, a triple from Collin Stewart (Glenville, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy) and five more consecutively from Justin Robinson (Lake Katrine, NY/Kingston) including a long ball with 10:25 left to push the lead to 64-49.

Je'lon Hornbeak (Arlington, TX/Grace Prep [Oklahoma]) knocked in two triples late in the shot clock, the second with 8:51 remaining to make it a 17-point lead. He later put in two foul shots to extend it to 19, and Tilghman converted another plus-one, his third of the game to make it 75-53. Micah Seaborn (Fort Worth, TX/Prime Prep Academy) put home a long ball, and Deon Jones (Wilmington, DE/Sanford School [Towson]) later had five consecutively to put the Blue and White up by 25 with 4:15 remaining. Robinson would add one more three to make it a 26-point margin, and the Hawks would go on to win by 24, 91-67.

Monmouth came out of the half with five in a row including a Seaborn triple and Jones layup to go up 11, and the lead extended to 14 on foul shots from Chris Brady (Greenlawn, NY/Harborfields) and Josh James (Greenburgh, NY/Archbishop Stepinac). Gilbert knocked in a triple, but Jones responded with a dribble drive plus the foul to make it a 14-point lead again.

The Stags responded by scoring seven in a row and nine of 11 to cut it to five at 13:14 on a Gilbert lay-in, but Monmouth came back with another Tilghman three-point play and a Stewart wing triple to go up 11 at 12:31.

MU took a 40-34 lead into the half, getting 10 points apiece from Brady and Tilghman in the period. Tilghman put the Hawks up 12 with a steal and drive the length of the floor, but six in a row from the Stags cut it to four after four straight from Jonathan Kasibabu, including a dunk. Hornbeak knocked one away at the top of the key that rolled the length of the floor, resulting in a Robinson transition triple after Hornbeak stopped and hit Robinson on the move.

Stewart netted seven straight, including a floater off glass and a three to put the Hawks up five at 9:19 following a Marcus Gilbert breakaway dunk. MU then got a corner triple from Seaborn and on the ensuing defensive possession, Hornbeak knocked one away and hit Tilghman on the break. He dished to Brady, who muscled to the rim, plus the foul to put MU up 11 after a Fairfield timeout at 8:22.

Tilghman scored seven straight for the Hawks in the first, canning a deep jump shot before getting to the lane and scoring, plus the foul. His free throw made it 19-14 Hawks at 11:51 of the first.

Tilghman scored 16 on 6-7 shooting, while Brady put in 13 points, six boards and three blocks. Robinson finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals while Jones had 12 with five caroms, Hornbeak put in 11 and four steals, and Stewart netted 10. MU shot 49.2% from the field, 37.9% from deep and 72.7% from the foul line while outrunning Fairfield on the fast break 14-2.

Tyler Nelson scored 19 points, shooting 5-9 from the field while Gilbert scored 12 and Jerry Johnson Jr. put in 10. Kasibabu grabbed nine rebounds for the Stags, as the visitors shot 37.7% from the field and 28.6% from deep.

Monmouth returns to the floor on Tuesday night at Marist, with tip set for 7:00 p.m. in Poughkeepsie.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Deon Jones: G; 6' 6"; Sophomore

#30 Collin Stewart: G; 6' 7"; Freshman

#43 Chris Brady: C; 6' 10"; Freshman

#0 Josh James: G; 6' 2"; Freshman

#12 Justin Robinson: G; 5' 8"; Freshman

#10 Micah Seaborn: G; 6' 5"; Freshman

#23 Austin Tilghman: G; 6' 1"; Freshman

#11 Je'lon Hornbeak: G; 6' 3"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#5 Deon Jones
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: G

#30 Collin Stewart
: 6' 7"; Freshman
: G

#43 Chris Brady
: 6' 10"; Freshman
: C

#0 Josh James
: 6' 2"; Freshman
: G

#12 Justin Robinson
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: G

#10 Micah Seaborn
: 6' 5"; Freshman
: G

#23 Austin Tilghman
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: G

#11 Je'lon Hornbeak
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G