WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (3-2, 3-1 MAAC) exploded for 97 points and were led by a pair of high school teammates in Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School) and Donovann Toatley (Largo, MD/Riverdale Baptist School/Chattanooga) with 16 points apiece as the Hawks completed a MAAC weekend sweep of Canisius College (1-3, 1-3 MAAC) Monday, 97-69.

The Hawks picked up right where they left off in the second half, scoring the first nine to extend the lead to 33 points. Canisius whittled it down to 23, primarily at the foul line, but Jack Holmstrom's () first career three alongside several Klemen Vuga (Menges, Slovenia/Virginia Episcopal School) baskets got the lead back over 30. The largest lead came in the final minutes after consecutive Vuga finishes made it 95-61, and MU eventually won by a 28-point mark.

Monmouth opened the game on an 11-0 run in which four different players scored and never looked back, leading by no less than six the remainder of the game. The Blue and White later posted a 15-0 run that included three triples, pushing the lead to 22 before Toatley knocked in a late jumper to make it a 24-point margin, 54-30 at the break.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"I thought my kids did a tremendous job in a tough situation. I think my team and our depth worked for us today. When we keep fresh bodies in the game, sometimes the guys that come in off the bench might be a little bit better than the guys that are in the game. We have so many options and when we get these guys to play together we're a very dangerous team." – King Rice
 
"Our young guys getting minutes under their belts is really going to help us, along with guys like Gob Gabriel and Donovann. Don hasn't played in a while and Gob is a big time scorer of the basketball. When you have this many kids you try to keep them happy, but we're really just playing to get better every week." -  Rice on the MU depth

"The process of getting used to playing with these guys is coming along pretty great in my opinion, just implementing the things I do and can bring to the game on a nightly basis to the camaraderie of what our team is and what we do. It's been really good what Coach Rice and I have been able to do along with our group of guys that we have every single day just to get better." – Donovann Toatley

-Deion Hammond's four three-point attempts tied him with Dejan Delic atop the school's three-point attempts chart with 667.
-Monmouth's 97 points are the most since scoring 98 in a MAAC quarterfinal win over Canisius in the 2019 MAAC Tournament.
-MU's 54 first-half points were the most in a period since MU scored 55 in the second half of a win at Canisius on 2/14/20.
-Hammond tied Toatley for the game-high in scoring, leading MU for the fourth game in a row.
-Toatley's 16 points are his most in a MU uniform.
-Gob Gabriel's seven points tied a career high.
-Klemen Vuga became the first freshman this season to score in double figures, finishing with 10 points.
-Marcus McClary scored in double figures for the ninth time in his career, doing so in just eight minutes.
-12 of the 14 Hawks to see the floor scored.
-MU shot 59.1% from three, its highest percentage since posting a 61.5% marker last season vs. Manhattan (1/18/20).
-The Hawks 58.7% from the field is the best since shooting 59.2% against Canisius on 1/24/19.

NUMBERS CRUNCH

-MU outshot the Griffs 58.7% to 36.1%.
-The Hawks limited Canisius to 20% from deep.
-The teams combined for 101 bench points.
-The Hawks were better in the paint, 40-24.
-The Griffs put four in double figures, all finishing with 10 points.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth heads to Siena for its first road game of the season on January 3 at 3:00 p.m.