RIVERDALE, NY – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (11-20, 10-8) closed the regular season with a critical road win on Friday night, topping Manhattan College (9-20, 7-10) behind a tremendous performance from Ray Salnave (Elmont, NY/Benjamin N. Cardozo). The guard finished with 18 points, nine assists and nine rebounds while Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School) poured in 17 in the win.

Manhattan never led in the game until Tyler Reynolds three-point play at 8:52 of the second half, putting the Jaspers up one. Hammond immediately responded to tie the game, and MU took the lead for good on Mustapha Traore's (Philadelphia, PA/Phelps School) layup at the 5:17 mark. MU limited Manhattan without a point for the final 4:30 of the game, steadily building the lead behind a 6-for-7 performance from the foul line in the final 3:30. The Blue and White ultimately ran the clock out with an eight-point lead to close out the regular season finale.

The Blue and White sprung to a 10-2 lead on the heels of back-to-back triples from Salnave and Hammond. MU never trailed in the opening 20 minutes, but Manhattan did climb within one on Tykei Greene's three that was reviewed and deemed good from distance, making it 20-19. After Warren Williams free throws made it a two-point game at 2:39, the Hawks scored the final six points of the period, including a Hammond triple and an acrobatic three-point play from Salnave in the closing seconds.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"It's always a hard game for me because Steve [Masiello] and I are such good friends and he does such a great job preparing his team for whoever they're going to play. Tonight, it was our night and this guy  [Ray Salnave] had a big, big time game to carry us. Our whole teams energy was good all day and we put it together for 40 minutes and beat a tough Manhattan team." – Head Coach King Rice

"We did a good job of handling what was thrown at us and Manhattan's pressure on their press is probably one of the best if not the best in the league. I feel like I did a good job of handling it and my teammates did a good job of being able to make themselves available whenever I needed help. We did a good job of staying together for the full game, even throughout the adversity we went through when they made their run and took a two-point lead." – Ray Salnave

-Ray Salnave reached double figures for the 17^th time this season and first time in four games.
-Salnave's nine rebounds tied a career high, while nine assists was a career best.
-Salnave finished one assist and one rebound shy of becoming the third Hawk in program history to record a triple-double.
-Hammond's 17 points is his most since a 27-point eruption at Quinnipiac on January 10. It marked his 20^th double-digit game of the season and 40^th of his career.
-Mustapha Traore grabbed nine rebounds for the sixth time this season.
-Traore's four blocks is a career-high and most by any Hawk this season.
-The four blocks is the most in a game by a Hawk since Chris Brady rejected six at Niagara on January 14, 2017.
-Diago Quinn played in his 132^nd career game, tying former teammate Austin Tilghman for third all-time in career games played.
-Monmouth has now posted a winning record in MAAC play in four of six seasons in the league.
-MU picked up its first win at Draddy Gym since February 10, 2017.
-The Blue and White snap a four-game losing streak with the victory.
-Monmouth can finish no lower than sixth in the MAAC, and can move up based on results around the league this weekend.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outshot Manhattan by a 48.9% to 32.8% clip.
-MU outrebounded the Jaspers, 39-34.
-Monmouth led for 37:02 of the 40 minutes, while the Jaspers led for just 42 seconds.
-MU limited Manhattan to 17.2% from three.
-Warren Williams led Manhattan with 15 points.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth will compete in the 2019 MAAC Tournament in Albany, with game date and time as well as seed yet to be determined.