The Monmouth University men’s basketball team earned their first victory in 55 days in a road win over North Carolina A&T, 79-64. This win marks their first ever victory in the CAA conference.
The Hawks were in the midst of a 12-game losing streak before roaring to life on their second of two games in North Carolina. The team scored 70 points for just the fourth time this season, and have now done so in both of their wins this season.
Monmouth began the game with leads of 6-1 and 11-3 before relinquishing the advantage halfway through the first half. After that, it was lights out for the Hawks as they headed into halftime leading 37-29, buoyed by a pair of triples knocked down by freshman guard Jack Collins.
The Hawks stayed hot from beyond the arc in the second half as well, as Collins, sophomore guard Tahron Allen, and junior guard Jack Holmstrom each drained threes to build the Hawks’ lead up to 18 points.
North Carolina refused to go down without a fight, going on a 10-0 run to chop the Hawks’ lead down to seven before junior guard Jakari Spence took matters into his own hands.
Spence scored a career-best 14 points to pair with a career-best seven assists and five rebounds. The Toms River native was also a perfect 8-8 on his free throws, which is incidentally the most makes without a miss by any Hawk this season. The Hawks went 14-17 from the foul line to put the game to bed, and this was Spence’s first career game scoring in double digits.
Head Coach King Rice lauded the effort by Spence, remarking, “Jakari Spence controlled the game, he got everybody involved, he played incredible defense. We all needed a win but especially the kids and it’s just a great feeling.”
Spence was one of many Hawks to have an excellent performance, as Tahron Allen’s 23 points were the most scored in a single game by any Hawk this season. Reflecting on the team’s performance, Allen said, “This one feels great; we played team basketball and got everyone involved in the game. We found offense through our defense so we defended hard and it led to offense and everybody trusted in that.
One guy gets a bucket, the next guy gets a bucket, we’re all happy for each other and that was key.” Allen, Collins, Spence, and junior forward Klemen Vuga all scored in double figures in the win. Vuga’s 14 points marks a career-best total for him and Collins’ effort gives him 10 or more points in 10 different games this season.
Overall, the Hawks were on fire from the field in this one, shooting a season-best 52.8 percent to go along with 54.5 percent from three. With their victory, Monmouth remains undefeated against North Carolina A&T with two wins and no losses.
The Hawks will open their February slate with a home matchup against Delaware on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m.
