On November 13, the Monmouth University Men’s Basketball took their first win of the year at Towson University, led by strong performances from seniors George Papas and Marcus McClary.
“That was a crazy game. Lot of fun to be in, I kept saying I couldn’t believe these guys kept coming back, you have to give Pat Skerry and the kids at Towson a lot of credit,” said Head Coach King Rice.
Monmouth scored the first 17 points of the game, leading 24-1 in the opening half before Towson began to fire back. The Tigers were able to work their way back within two before Monmouth’s 10-0 run to conclude the first half, 43-31.
The Hawks opened the second half of play with strong defense, allowing just two field goals in the first 8:20 of the period. Monmouth built their lead to as much as 22 before a 17-0 Tigers run. The Hawks nine free throws in the final 2:30 secured the road win.
Papas scored 22 in 38 minutes of play, complemented by a career high 16-point performance from McClary. “We’re a tough group, we have a lot of older guys and we can handle some runs like that,” said Papas, “tonight we showed that we’re grown men that can handle some adversity.”
“I thought Marcus was dominant in that game playing against bigger guys inside and getting whatever he wanted. George played like George, he loves to play, he loves to compete and I’m glad he’s on my team,” said Rice, “I’ll go to war with George Papas any day.”
Senior Forward Walker Miller continues to execute for the Hawks scoring 11 points and grabbing 8 rebounds, after a 23-point performance in the loss to Charlotte on Tuesday. Miller comes to the Hawks for his final season as a graduate transfer from the University of North Carolina.
Next up, on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Monmouth Men’s Basketball will welcome Lehigh to Ocean First Bank Center. Keep up with the squad by following @MonmouthBBall on Twitter.
Monmouth Women’s Basketball picked up a win of their own on Friday night at home against Navy, 57-46. Head Coach Ginny Boggess recorded her first win as a Hawk in the process.
“It feels fantastic but this is not about me,” said Boggess, “it is about our players and the team. It’s about them choosing to stay. It’s about them loving Monmouth and loving each other. This is just the beginning we have a lot of potential in the locker room and I am really excited for our future.”
Monmouth’s night was sparked by back to back three’s by Sophomore Guard Kaci Donovan and Jania Hall toward the conclusion of the first quarter. Riding this momentum, the Hawks increased their lead to 32-20 by half time.
Navy outscored Monmouth 26-25 in the second half, however, the Hawks defensive effort stood strong, never allowing the Mids within 10. Navy was led by Jennifer Coleman who scored 22.
Senior guard Stella Clark fell just short of a double-double, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds. Hall scored 10 of her own in the contest.
“The team bought into the game plan. They had two prolific scorers, really, really good guards,” said Boggess, “we really challenged them at halftime to make sure stay true to the game plan. All five players were guarding the ball and I thought we did a great job of that tonight.”
Women’s Basketball will face St. Joe’s at home on Wednesday, November 17 at 7:00 p.m. To keep up with the team follow @MUHawksWBB on Twitter.
