ASHEVILLE, NC – Monmouth men's basketball was defeated at UNC Asheville on Wednesday night, 62-51. The Bulldogs led by seven at the break and held on to win by 11. Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, DE/Archbishop Carroll) led Monmouth with 11 points in the loss.

Marcus McClary (Linden, NJ/The Patrick School) knocked in his first two career field goals to cut the Bulldogs lead to six at the 12:03 mark of the second half, but UNC Asheville scored the next eight points to make it a 14-point margin. The Blue and White were unable to get within nine from that point forward.

UNC Asheville led 28-18 at the 4:40 mark of the opening half after a Jalen Seegars steal and finish, before a 9-0 run got Monmouth right back within one. George Papas (Jersey City, NJ/Union Catholic) and Pierre Sarr (Dakar, Senegal/Roselle Catholic) hit triples on the stretch to trim it to 28-27. UNC Asheville closed the half on a 6-0 run to make it 34-27 at the break.

NOTES

-Deion Hammond and Marcus McClary made their first career starts.
-Nine different Hawks have now made starts this season.
-King Rice used a different starting lineup for the fourth time in five games this season.
-The game marked the first at the Division I level that Monmouth and UNC Asheville squared off. The teams met in the NAIA Tournament in 1969, a Monmouth victory.
-The contest also marked Monmouth's first against a current Big South member since MU played Campbell twice in MU's first season as a DI program, both coming in December 1983.
-Micah Seaborn missed his third career game and first of the season.
-Austin Tilghman put together his 19^th career game in double figures.
-George Papas knocked home three triples for the first time in his young career.
-Marcus McClary hit consecutive field goals, his first career FG's.
-Papas became the second guard to lead MU in rebounds this year, finishing with six.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Kevin Vannatta finished with a game-high 25 points and five threes.
-Monmouth outscored Asheville's bench 25-10.
-MU outrebounded the Bulldogs 41-39.
-Nine different Hawks scored points in the game.
-Ahmad Thomas totaled a double-double for the Bulldogs, finishing with 13 points, 12 rebounds.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth will return home for the first time since opening night to take on Penn on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN3.