RIVERDALE, NY – Monmouth University Men's Basketball (16-8, 8-5 MAAC) continued its dominance on the road, leading for over 38 minutes Friday night in topping Manhattan College (11-11, 4-9 MAAC) 75-65. George Papas filled the stat sheet, finishing with 23 points, eight rebounds, six steals and four assists to lead four Hawks in double figures.
 
Monmouth's lead was briefly cut to two at 15:15 of the second half before MU scored six of the next eight points, capped by Nikkei Rutty's second dunk of the night to lead 51-45. A pair of Myles Foster baskets with a Papas three in the middle extended the lead to 11, and Jarvis Vaughan's clean-up layup in transition had the Hawks up 15 with 5:12 left. Manhattan scored eight straight to trim it to seven, but MU converted from the foul line late to secure the victory.
 
After a back-and-forth few minutes, Myles Foster scored three times in 1:22 as MU opened up a 13-point edge at 9:42 of the first. Walker Miller later backed that up with seven in a row, and after a Papas dunk in transition, the MU first-half lead was 16. Manhattan used a 10-0 run to make it a six-point game at the break.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"We got back in the gym yesterday and these kids were ready. These young guys on our team have really earned it, they've been great just staying ready. Today might have been Myles Foster's best game at Monmouth, we know he can score the ball and he also did all the little things. That means down the stretch, the younger group will be able to help us when we need it." – Head Coach King Rice

"This is always a tough place to play, always a hostile environment and this was my last time here. This just shows us that we're built for the MAAC and that we're tough. This league is a fight every single night and we had some people come up huge tonight." – Guard George Papas
 
-This marked Monmouth's 10^th true road win, tied for the most in the nation.
-George Papas' third triple of the game was the 200^th of his career, the seventh Hawk in program history to hit 200 from beyond the arc.
-Papas recorded six steals, the 18^th player in school history to have six or more steals in a game. It's the most by a Hawk since Justin Robinson set the record with eight against Rider on March 4, 2016.
-Myles Foster was a perfect 5-5 from the floor, posting his third double-digit game of the season.
-Myles Ruth was also in double figures off the bench for the third time this season.
-MU has won six of its last eight contests.
-Monmouth sweeps the season series from Manhattan, the third MAAC team the Hawks have swept this year (Fairfield, Canisius).
-Monmouth won at Draddy Gymnasium for the fifth consecutive time.
-MU has topped Manhattan eight times in a row.
-George Papas' 23 points marked his 11^th career game of 20+ points and eighth this year.
-Walker Miller worked into double digits for the 20^th time this year, a team best.
-Nikkei Rutty grabbed eight rebounds, his 10^th contest this year of 8+ boards.
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outshot Manhattan 48% to 41.1%.
-The Hawks limited the Jaspers to 22.7% from deep.
-MU's defense limited MAAC leading scorer Jose Perez under his average, finishing 4-15 from the field and 0-4 from three after starting 0-8 FG.
-MU was better off the bench, 25-8.
-Each team scored 36 points in the paint.
 
UP NEXT
-Monmouth is at first-place Iona Sunday at 1:00 p.m.