Box Score (PDF)
Riverdale, NY - Monmouth withstood a late Manhattan run, in posting a 70-65 victory in the first of two games between the teams at Draddy Gymnasium.
Junior
Warren Williams (Kingston, Jamaica / St. Benedict's Prep) had another strong game, posting his fourth double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Jaspers. Classmate
Ant Nelson (New York, NY / Seton Hall) added 14 points with five assists and two steals, and fellow junior
Marques Watson (Brooklyn, NY / Miami Dade College) added a career-high 12 points and two assists to round out the double-figure performers for the Green & White.
Trailing 67-57 with 3:54 to play, junior
Samir Stewart (Fort Lauderdale, FL / American Heritage) buried a triple off a Watson feed. Melik Martin then split a pair from the line, before junior
Elijah Buchanan (Bronx, NY / Woodstock Academy (CT)) converted a three-point play to quickly slice the deficit in half at 68-63 with 2:06 to play. Williams then forced a steal on the ensuing possession, before splitting a pair to trim it to 68-64 at the 1:32 mark.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as Manhattan would get.
Monmouth improves to 9-5 and 9-4 in the MAAC, while the Jaspers fall to 5-7 and 4-7 in the league.
Martin paced Monmouth with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Notes
* Williams is averaging 11.8 ppg, 9.1 rpg and 1.8 bpg with four double-doubles and five double-digit rebounding performances over his last eight games.
* Over five career games against Monmouth, he is also averaging 12.0 ppg and 5.8 rpg, while shooting a blistering 62.2 percent (23-of-37) from the floor.
* Manhattan turned Monmouth over 17 times, and have now forced at least 15 turnovers in nine of its 12 games.
* The Jaspers recorded a season-high 17 assists, while also posting a 32-26 advantage in points in the paint.
* Buchanan matched a career-high with nine rebounds.
* Nelson matched his season-high with five assists, while netting double-figures in points for the team-best ninth time.
* The Hawks held the edge in free throw attempts (28-12) and free throw makes (16-8).
Up Next
* The teams will meet tomorrow at 9:00 pm in a game that will be streamed live on
ESPN3.
