WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (4-4, 4-3 MAAC) took the lead 35 seconds into the game and never looked back, getting 21 points from Deion Hammond (Mitchellville, MD/Riverdale Baptist School), 12 more from Melik Martin (York, PA/York Catholic) and 10 boards from Marcus McClary (Linden, NJ/The Patrick School) in an 80-64 win over Marist College (6-3, 4-3 MAAC) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The MU lead quickly grew to 12 after a 7-0 start to the second half, but Marist was able to get it briefly inside single digits before consecutive Donovann Toatley (Largo, MD/Riverdale Baptist School/Chattanooga) triples extended it back to 10. A 9-2 run upped the lead to 15, and consecutive late threes from George Papas (Jersey City, NJ/Union Catholic) and Jack Holmstrom (Rockford, IL/Guilford) iced it, as Monmouth limited Marist to 20% from three in the second half.

MU led the entire first half, taking the lead 25 seconds in on a Hammond jumper. The Blue and White ripped off eight in a row and used a 15-5 run to lead by the largest margin of the period, 11, at 13:37. Marist connected on six first-half triples to get back in it, including hitting two in a row to trim it to a one-point game at 1:50 before MU scored the last four points to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room.

NOTES AND QUOTES

"It felt good to get out on the floor again. We all know we had a tough weekend last weekend and we weren't feeling very good, so you look forward to playing against a tough Marist team that was playing really well and has one of the best coaches that I've coached against and he's also a friend. I thought we really had to be ready to compete against them. Today we competed and I really liked the energy my guys played with." – King Rice

"Defense is always the focal point to us, especially after coming off two losses to a good team like Siena. We definitely picked it up in practice these last few days and it was our main focus coming out." – Deion Hammond on the defensive effort

"It's a point of emphasis every time I play basketball, to have no turnovers. If I have a turnover, that means the other team has the advantage and as a point guard I feel I shouldn't be turning the ball over." - Myles Ruth on his turnover-free start at PG

-Monmouth won its 999^th game in program history dating back to 1956.
-Melik Martin scored in double figures for the second time this season and 12^th time in his career.
-Hammond's 21 points marks his 19^th game with 20+, and his 80^th career game in double figures.
-Hammond led MU in scoring for the sixth time in eight games this year.
-Marcus McClary's 10 rebounds was one shy of a career high. He is the first Hawk to reach double digits in boards this season.
-McClary finished one point shy of a double-double, totaling nine points to go with 10 caroms.
-Myles Ruth scored a career-best eight points, and made his third straight three in the last four games.
-Ruth's four steals also marked a career best.
-MU has now taken the MAAC weekend opener three times in four chances.
-The Hawks led for the final 39:16 of the game.
-10 of 12 Hawks to play in the game scored, while 11 of 12 had a rebound.
-Ruth and McClary moved back into the starting lineup for the first time since opening night.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-MU outshot Marist 50% to 47.3%.
-The Hawks limited the Red Foxes to 20% from three in the second half.
-Monmouth outrebounded the visitors, 35-28.
-The Hawks dominated the fast break to a 17-0 mark.
-MU capitalized on 14 Marist turnovers, converting them to 18 points.
-Marist was led by 15 points from Hakim Byrd, topping three Red Foxes in double digits.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth will take on Marist tomorrow to wrap up the weekend set, with tip scheduled for 2:00 p.m. on ESPN3.