WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth allowed a season-low 56 points defensively in picking up its second MAAC win over Siena on Thursday night, 67-56. Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, DE/Archbishop Carroll) led all scorers with 20 points, and the Hawks limited Siena to just 26 second half points and 16 total field goals, a season low.

Monmouth took an instant second-half lead when Diago Quinn (New York, NY/Lake Forest Academy) finished from the left baseline. MU would never trail after that point, going up 10 on Louie Pillari's (Tinton Falls, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) three at 12:28. The Saints trimmed the Hawk lead down to four at 9:04 from the foul line, but a 9-0 Monmouth run had the Hawks leading 58-45 with 4:53 to go. Jordan Horn's long ball would get Siena within six, but the Hawks were 9-of-10 in the final 2:06 from the free throw line to lock down the victory.

Trailing 18-7 in the first half, Monmouth went on an 11-0 run, capped by consecutive three-point plays by freshmen Marcus McClary (Linden, NJ/The Patrick School) and Melik Martin (York, PA/York Catholic). Pillari drilled a corner three to give the Hawks their first lead in over 11 minutes, and Siena ultimately took a one-point lead to the locker room in a half that featured nine lead changes.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"When you have a big group leave and you got a bunch of new kids, to get them to understand the level of this league is a hard thing to do. Jimmy [Patsos]'s team really fought hard today, you have to give those kids a lot of credit." –King Rice

"We were very fortunate to get this one. I thought Austin [Tilghman], as a senior, he's been doing great things all year and then tonight when we were down he carried us. We're going to need him to do just like that for the rest of the season as a senior. He knows that we're counting on him and he knows we know he can get the job done. We stayed together on a tough night, happy that we were able to get the win." –King Rice

"This whole week we emphasized defense and I thought we really had a good week of defensive practice. We came out and we were struggling a little bit and they were all over our glass and in our paint. We kept our composure and stayed together and really fought. This was a game that we needed." –Austin Tilghman

-Monmouth allowed just 56 Siena points, the lowest for an MU opponent this season.
-Siena's 16 made field goals was a season low for MU defensively.
-Siena shot 32.7%, the lowest output from a Hawks opponent this year.
-Austin Tilghman led Monmouth with 20 points, his second career 20-point outing and second most points in a game in his career.
-Tilghman's seven rebounds led the Hawks, the eighth time the guard has led MU in rebounding this season.
-MU turned it over just eight times, the second lowest amount of the season (7 vs. Albany, 11/27).
-Deion Hammond came two points shy of a career-high, knocking in 17 points.
-Monmouth was 9-10 from the foul line in the final 2:06, shooting over 80% from the line overall for the fifth time this season and first since Yale (12/22).
-The first half featured nine lead changes, but Monmouth took the lead for good at 19:33 of the second half.
-MU limited Siena to 25% from the floor and 27.3% from deep in the final 20 minutes.
-Louie Pillari worked into double digits for the fifth time this year.
-Tilghman's 8-of-8 from the foul line is the most makes for a Hawk this year without a miss in a single game.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-The Hawks are now 6-13 and 2-5 in MAAC play, while Siena falls to 6-16, 2-7 in the league.
-Monmouth was 17-for-19 from the foul line in the second half.
-The Hawks outscored Siena off turnovers 22-5, converting on 14 Saints miscues.
-The Blue and White were better in the paint by a 28-10 count.
-Three Saints scored in double figures, led by Ahsante Shivers' 12 points.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth will take on Marist on Saturday afternoon at the Nassau Coliseum as part of a MAAC tripleheader on Long Island. MU will tip with the Red Foxes at 4:00 p.m.