PHILADELPHIA, PA – Ray Salnave (Elmont, NY/Benjamin N. Cardozo) drove the right side of the lane and scored with 2.3 seconds left to lift Monmouth to an overtime win over Penn on New Year's Eve at The Palestra. Diago Quinn (New York, NY/Lake Forest Academy) tied a career-high with 19 points and secured his second career double-double, grabbing 14 rebounds in the win.

The lead changed four times in the extra session, and Salnave's acrobatic up-and-under layup gave MU a two-point lead with 32.9 seconds left. AJ Brodeur answered with a three-point play chance with 17 seconds to go, but missed the foul shot to keep things tied before Salnave got to the rim and tucked home the game-winner with 2.3 seconds to go. Antonio Woods' long triple at the buzzer for the win was off the mark, giving Monmouth its first win of the year.

Monmouth opened the second half on a 12-4 push to take a six-point lead, but a pair of Penn triples immediately tied things up. The Hawks led by as many as five with 4:20 to go when Louie Pillari (Tinton Falls, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) dropped in a floater, but Penn responded with nine of the game's next 11 points to take the lead. Salnave tied it from the line with 1:15 left and had a chance to win it at the end of regulation before the game shifted to overtime.

Penn's largest lead of the first half was six, coming with 3:17 to play after the teams traded leads eight times. MU was able to net the final four points of the half and Quinn nearly totaled a double-double in the first 20 minutes as the Hawks hit the locker room trailing 32-30.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"I'm so proud of my guys. I know it's hard on the fans but imagine if you/re the kids playing. The kids have been tremendous. They've shown up every day to fight, they've shown up trying to get better. They've shown up on gameday and we've fallen short on a bunch of nights. This is a credit to how their parents raised them, this is a credit to the young men they choose to be because they haven't hung their heads. They've come ready every single day." – Head Coach King Rice

"I was just trying to concentrate on finishing tonight and just doing the little things in practice ever since we came back from break. Going into conference play and starting a new year, that's pretty much all I was thinking about coming into today and seeing our guys fighting, I knew our job was to just help them and it snowballed into a good performance." – Senior Diago Quinn

-Diago Quinn tied a career-high with 19 points, set previously nearly a year ago, 1/5/18 at Manhattan.
-Quinn posted his second career double-double, and first since 1/12/18 at Niagara.
-Ray Salnave scored in double digits for the eighth time this season and 20^th game overall.
-Louie Pillari's 13 points tied a season high, and was his third game of the season in doubles.
-Quinn's 14 rebounds was the most by a Hawk this year.
-The teams have now combined to play five overtimes in the last two seasons.
-This marked Monmouth's first overtime game of the season and first since a three-overtime contest at Siena last February 18.
-Monmouth has now played three consecutive seasons on New Year's Eve.
-Deion Hammond returned to the lineup after missing one game with an injury.
-MU made its first visit to The Palestra since 2015, a January victory over the Quakers.
-Philadelphia native Mustapha Traore made his return to his hometown for the second time in this non-conference slate.
-Monmouth is now 3-6 all time against Penn, with the road team having won every game in the King Rice era.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-The Hawks topped Penn's bench 44-9.
-Monmouth limited Penn to 34.9% shooting for the game.
-MU outrebounded the Quakers 47-42.
-MU outscored Penn in the paint 40-22.
-Diago Quinn marked as a +9 for the Hawks.
-AJ Brodeur led all scorers with 20 points.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth opens conference play Thursday at Iona at 7:00 p.m.