PITTSBURGH, PA – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (1-4) had the game tied in the second half and were within single digits in the final two minutes, but the University of Pittsburgh (3-2) was able to hold off the Hawks on Monday at Petersen Events Center, 63-50. Mustapha Traore (Philadelphia, PA/The Phelps School) led MU in scoring with 12 points, while Ray Salnave (Elmont, NY/Benjamin N. Cardozo) scored in double figures for the fifth time in a row to open the year.

The Blue and White immediately got it tied out of the locker room, and with less than 16 minutes remaining, the game was knotted at 28. The Hawks went down six when Xavier Johnson hit a long three and Justin Champagnie finished at the rim, but MU cut it down to four multiple times, including when George Papas (Jersey City, NJ/Union Catholic) stopped and pulled a wing three with 10:00 to play to make it 41-37. Melik Martin's (York, PA/York Catholic) foul line jumper at 9:39 kept the Hawks within four, but a 5-0 run gave Pitt a nine-point lead. MU kept it right at that number until the final seconds, when Pitt converted six free throws to win it 63-50.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"I am glad my kids played better than they did last week. We had a tough one against Kansas and it got away from us. I wasn't sure if we were going to hang our heads because that is a hard one to bounce back from so quickly. I was really proud of my club. I thought we gave them a scare for a little while. Then it got away from us. We were down nine and then they could relax and make a couple plays that if they would have went the other way, maybe we could have stolen one from them." – Head Coach King Rice

-Monmouth has now tied or led in the second half at two high-major arenas this season (Kansas State and Pitt).
-Mustapha Traore scored in double digits for the second time this season and 13^th time in his career.
-Ray Salnave has scored in double figures in all five games this season, finishing with 10. He has 36 career double-digit scoring games.
-Marcus McClary netted a season-high nine points.
-McClary matched a career best with four assists.
-Salnave's seven rebounds marked a season best.
-Salnave and Traore both had three steals, the most by a Hawk this season.
-This marks the end of MU's five true road games to start the season.
-The Hawks have now played every current ACC school with the exception of Louisville in program history.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-MU was narrowly outshot, 39.6% to 37.3%.
-Each team made 19 field goals, with MU making five threes to Pitt's four.
-The Hawks shot eight free throws (7-8) to Pitt's 26 (21-26).
-Trey McGowens led all scorers with 16 points.
-Champagnie grabbed 10 boards to lead all rebounders.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth heads to Orlando to play in the MAAC-ASUN Challenge, beginning with a contest against Kennesaw State on Friday night at 8:30 p.m.