WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Four Hawks scored in double figures, led by 15 from Jack Collins, as Monmouth University Men's Basketball won its 10^th straight home game Thursday, beating William & Mary 68-64. Jaret Valencia had a career-high six blocks, the most by a Hawk since 2017.
 
MU never trailed in the second half, leading by 15 early and 13 on a Valencia dunk at 17:02. After William & Mary got the lead down to three, MU scored four in a row to get it back to seven. A strong second effort from Cornelius Robinson Jr., who made his first career start, made it 62-56 at 2:05 and MU was able to get stops down the stretch to secure the 68-64 win.
 
After going back-and-forth early on, Monmouth seized a 10-point lead after a 12-1 run that saw triples go down for Collins and Jack Holmstrom, making it 17-7 at 13:25. MU converted three triples in 2:16 from three different players to extend the lead to 12, and a pair of Jaret Valencia dunks capped the half with MU in front by its largest margin of the first 20 minutes, 37-23.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
 
"Tonight in the first half our defense really guarded them great. In the second half their stuff started working more but thanks to these guys we were able to hold them off." – Head Coach King Rice

"We have a lot of guys that are just finding their roles and they're just getting better every time. Them being able to improve every game and keep getting better, every week we continue to get better and develop more chemistry with each other." – Jack Collins
 
-Jaret Valencia became the seventh Hawk ever to block six or more shots in a game, pinning six, the most since Chris Brady had six on 1/14/17.
-Monmouth's 11 blocks was the most in a game since February 3, 2007 against St. Francis NY.
-Monmouth beat William & Mary for the first time ever.
-Cornelius Robinson Jr. scored a career-high 12 points, his first career game in double figures.
-Xander Rice posted a season-best seven assists, tied for the most by a Hawk this season.
-Jack Collins posted his 13^th double-digit game this season.
-Jakari Spence scored in double digits for the sixth time in his career.
-Robinson made his first career start.
-This was William & Mary's first ever trip to West Long Branch.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth outshot William & Mary 44% to 33%.
-The Hawks were better in the paint, 28-20.
-MU topped the Tribe on the move, 21-4.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth visits Northeastern Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. tip. The game will air on NESN+, FloSports and on the radio via the Monmouth Digital Network.