WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (1-1, 1-0 MAAC) Head Coach King Rice won his 150^th career game, and Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School) led the way with 22 points as the Hawks held off Saint Peter's University (4-3, 2-1 MAAC) Friday night, 78-76.

SPU cut it to two quickly out of the break, but MU scored seven in a row and used a 15-4 push to lead by 13, at 13:24. A George Papas (Jersey City, NJ/Union Catholic) triple made it a 14-point lead at 10:02, but the Peacocks took advantage of a 17-3 run to tie the game at 67 with 5:28 to go. In a tie game with just over three minutes left, senior Marcus McClary (Linden, NJ/The Patrick School) drilled a corner three to give the Hawks the lead for good. Following freshman Myles Ruth's (Hillside, NJ/Don Bosco Prep) three-point play at 1:43, Doug Edert cut it back to one with a three, but the Hawks got a stop on the final possession of the game to secure the victory.

MU used an early 9-0 run to take an eight-point lead, capped by a Papas three, one of five on the night for the senior. Edert got hot for SPU, scoring nine straight points as the Peacocks fought back and eventually took the lead on another Edert triple at 5:58. Following that make, MU scored 15 of the next 17, including Donovann Toatley's (Largo, MD/Riverdale Baptist School/Chattanooga) first bucket as a Hawk and a Hammond slam in transition, paving the way for MU to lead 40-32 at the intermission.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"I'm just super happy that these young men are having this opportunity. Kids just want to play basketball. I thought we had a good group. I'm not one to overhype guys but we have a freshmen class that's really big time, and because we have some seniors that are really good, the freshmen don't get talked about as much. I thought Klemen and Myles did a great job today. We have a bunch of kids, and think our versatility is what's going to make us have a chance." – Head Coach King Rice

"It's always a great feeling to get a win, especially after a loss against a great team. We faced another great team tonight and we came out and fought them for every inch of the court. We  have a quick turnaround now and have come to back  tomorrow with the same intensity, maybe even more." – Deion Hammond

"After Hofstra, we watched the film and Coach Rice pointed out some of our errors on D and it was little things, like continuing to talk, and we took that personally. Coming into a game against Saint Peter's, we knew this game was going to be a dog fight because they have some great players that fight for 40 minutes." – Marcus McClary

-King Rice picked up his 150^th win as the Monmouth Head Coach.
-George Papas knocked in five threes and posted his second consecutive game in double figures.
-Deion Hammond netted over 20 points for the second straight game to open the season, and now has 16 such games in his career.
-Donovann Toatley made his Monmouth debut and scored his first game in double figures, netting a pair of triples.
-Marcus McClary became the second Hawk in as many games to grab eight rebounds (Melik Martin vs. Hofstra).
-Freshman Myles Ruth, who was on the floor in the final minutes, scored a career-high five points and added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
-Klemen Vuga converted his first career three-point play.
-Jarvis Vaughan and Gob Gabriel made their season debuts.
-Samuel Chaput and Nikkei Rutty made their first starts of the season.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth shot 44.3% from the field and limited SPU to just 37.7%.
-The Hawks shot 45% from three, the second game in a row they were over 40%.
-The teams were dead even in the paint, 22-22.
-MU led for 32:49 of the game.
-Doug Edert led the way for SPU with 19 points, netting five threes.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth has a quick turnaround, as they will meet the Peacocks again tomorrow, Saturday December 19, at 5:00 p.m.