WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – George Papas netted 31 points to lead Monmouth University Men's Basketball (2-1) past Lehigh University (0-3) in the home opener Tuesday night, 85-75 in the first men's game in front of fans in 620 days dating back to March 6, 2020. The contest was the first in the newly renamed Dr. Marilyn A. McNeil Arena after the recently retired Vice President and Director of Athletics who spent 28 years at the University.
 
Papas opened the half with a banked home triple to extend the lead to 16, and 10-2 spurt gave the Hawks a 20-point advantage with 14:06 to play. MU continued to lead by double digits until the final minutes, when Lehigh got it to nine before a quick 7-0 run made it a four-point game at 1:49. Marcus McClary banked one home and MU went 6-6 at the foul line in the final minute to secure the victory.
 
Lehigh got off to a hot shooting start and led by as many as eight early, but a quick 9-0 run capped by a Shavar Reynolds three put MU in front. Late in the half in a tie game, Walker Miller jumpstarted a 16-3 finish to the period that included three Papas triples to send MU to the break with a 47-34 lead.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"I want to say how awesome it was to play at home in front of our crowd in Dr. Marilyn A. McNeil Arena. We beat a very good Lehigh team that came out here today with a plan to knock us off and we really played well to get it done." – Head Coach King Rice
 
"I have all the faith in the world in George. He does everything he possibly can to be the best basketball player. When a super senior on your team that you've been through a lot with goes off, it's really cool for him, for me and for his family." – Rice on Papas
 
"It's really easy with this group. The guys we have are unselfish, they're all people that will pass up a good shot to get a great shot. For me, my buckets are easy, I'm getting dump offs and layups, I just have to catch it and finish it. The fact that I scored double figures doesn't speak about me as much as it speaks about everyone else on our team." – Graduate center Walker Miller
 
-Papas' 31 points is the 53^rd 30+ point game in Monmouth history.
-Papas finishes one off his career high of 32, which he has netted twice, with this being his third career 30+ point game.
-Papas seven triples is the third most ever in a game at Monmouth, and the third time in his career he has hit at least seven.
-Papas has now scored 30+ points in back-to-back home openers.
-Walker Miller is the only Hawk to score double-digits in all three games to this point.
-Nikkei Rutty led MU with nine rebounds, his season best.
-MU shot over 90% from the free throw line for the second time this season.
-Tahron Allen made his collegiate debut off the bench at the end of the first half.
-Monmouth has started 2-1 for the first time since 2017-18.
-The Hawks have seven consecutive wins at home.
-MU is now 9-2 in home openers under King Rice.
-The Blue and White are now 5-6 all-time against Lehigh, while Rice is 3-1.
-This marked the first men's basketball game in front of fans since March 6, 2020, a span of 620 days.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outrebounded Lehigh 37-31.
-MU shot 43.1% and 40% from deep.
-Every Hawk that played double-digit minutes scored in the game.
-Monmouth played 10 players, the deepest rotation of the season.
-MU outran Lehigh 27-10 on the fast break.
-The game featured five ties and six lead changes.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth heads to Philadelphia to take on St. Joe's on Saturday at noon.