Despite shooting numbers that were as cold as the winter weather, the Monroe Mustangs men's basketball team got an important 51-49 win over ASA at the MAC on Thursday night to raise their season record to 16-6 and their all-important conference record to 2-0.  (Harcum is 2-1, ASA is 1-2, and Globe is 0-2).
 
Maybe it was the loud, full house and high emotions, as they always are when Monroe and ASA go at it, or maybe it was the long layoff caused by snow cancellations, but neither the Mustangs nor Avengers could establish any offensive consistency.  As a team Monroe was a woeful 17/67 from the field (25.4%) and the Avengers weren't much better (15/56, 26.8%).  In fact, the Mustangs' 51 point total was their lowest output of the season and 19 points below their per game average.
 
The only surge that mattered came at the 11:10 mark in the second half when Monroe went on a 12-5 run to break a 34-34 tie with a lead they would never relinquish.  Fittingly the winning points were scored not on field goals, but on two foul shots by sophomore Thomas Rivera with 1:56 on the clock and one by freshman Lukas Landgren at 1:10.   Incredibly, Monroe's final field goal came way back at 5:44 on a layup by Rivera to give Monroe a 48-41 lead, matching their largest of the game. 
 
Despite the ugliness, Monroe will take it.
 
"I was happy with the effort, but we really have to shoot better," said Coach Jeff Brustad.  "We scored just enough and hit the free throws at the end that made the difference.  Hey, a league win is a league win." 
 
Rivera's floor leadership was key.  Despite woeful shooting numbers (4/10) like everyone else on both teams, the 6'0"point guard from the City, was Monroe's high man with 13 points.
 
Landgren, a gritty 6'8" freshman from Sweden didn't register a field goal (0/7), but drew a couple of key offensive fouls in the second half and played cheerleader to help fire up the crowd and keep the Mustangs in the game.
 
"On a night like this when no one is shooting well, it's contributions like that that make a big difference," Coach Brustad said. 

For the record, the scoring ineptitude in this game was historic.  This was only the second time since they became a Division I program in 2002-03 that Monroe scored so few points.  In November of 2012, the Mustangs were defeated 90-49 by the College of Southern Idaho.  Thursday was the only time in their history that they've ever won a game while scoring so little.