NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., November 7, 2019 – A year after finishing the season in the national rankings, the Monroe College Mustangs men's basketball team has its sights set on reaching the next level in 2019-20.
 
Head coach Jeff Brustad returns for his 18th season in 2019-20. At the helm of the Mustangs men's basketball program, Brustad has amassed a record of 450-121 for an impressive winning percentage of .788. Coach Brustad is a 10-time Region XV Coach of the Year, as well as a seven-time District 3 Coach of the Year recipient.
 
The Mustangs finished 2018-19 with an impressive 25-6 record. Late in the season, the Mustangs went on a 14-game winning streak spanning from Jan. 5 through March 3. March 3 was the 2019 Region XV Championship game, in which the Mustangs defeated Harcum College, 82-67. Right before the Region Championship, the Mustangs entered the NJCAA Div. I Men's Basketball rankings for the first time since the 2015-16 preseason poll. Unfortunately, Monroe's season ended one game shy of the NJCAA Div. I Men's Basketball Championship tournament, as the Mustangs dropped an 83-81 decision at Allegany College of Maryland in the District Championship.
 
The Mustangs return three core players from last year's roster. 2019 NJCAA All-American Juan Felix Rodriguez leads the pack. He averaged 11.6 points, 4.4 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game in an impressive freshman campaign. Leading scorer Zion Styles also returns after averaging 12.4 points, 1.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game last year. Elijah Mitchell only started seven games, but he played in all 31 contests last year, averaging 7.0 points and shooting .460 from the field.
 
Monroe boasts 12 newcomers to this year's roster, which includes a lot of size in the frontcourt. New forwards Tobias Perkovic, Julio Pascual, Justin Steer, Jeremiah Kendall, Shaheim Fryar and Luka Ivkovic all stand 6-foot-7 or taller (Perkovic is 6-foot-8), giving the Mustangs a lot of height in the lineup and off the bench. A familiar face returned to the group of forwards, as Marcus Thompson joins the varsity team after playing for the Mustangs' JV squad in 2017-18 and redshirting last year.
 
Joining Rodriguez, Styles and Mitchell in the backcourt are Jabari Merritt, Luis Herrera, Ja'mani Eaton, Akeem Tate and Kevin Levine. The Mustangs also have some more height than usual in their group of guards, with six of them standing 6-foot-3 or taller, to go with a lot of playmaking ability.
 
The Mustangs open their season Thursday evening in an inter-campus matchup against the Monroe College Express at 7 p.m. The Mustangs then take to the road on Monday, Nov. 11, to take on Manor College in Jenkintown, Pa. Monroe then flies out to Kansas to play in the Best Western/Booster Club Classic, hosted by Barton Community College. Monroe will play No. 10 Hutchinson Community College on Friday, Nov. 15, and then take on host Barton on Saturday, Nov. 16.
 
Monroe will then host the Monroe College Invitational at the Monroe Athletic Complex on Friday, Nov. 22, and Saturday, Nov. 23. The Mustangs will take on Hagerstown Community College on Friday before playing Harford Community College on Saturday. ASA College, SUNY Sullivan and Harcum College will all be participating in the tournament as well.
 
Monroe then heads down to Maryland the following weekend for the Hagerstown Invitational. The Mustangs will play Hagerstown on Saturday, Nov. 30, and then challenge Allegany on Sunday, Dec. 1. The next weekend will see the Mustangs host another tournament, the Monroe College Roundball Classic. The Mustangs will take on Macomb Community College on Saturday, Dec. 7, and then play Monroe Community College on Sunday, Dec. 8.
 
Monroe will then play in the Harford Hoops Classic from Friday, Dec. 20, through Sunday, Dec. 22. The Mustangs will play Howard Community College, Harford and Potomac State College of WVU throughout the weekend. Monroe then closes out the year with two more tournaments down in Florida. They will compete in the Tallahassee Democrat Holiday Classic, playing No. 16 Tallahassee Community College on Saturday, Dec. 28, and Pensacola State College on Sunday, Dec. 29. They will then head over to Panama City for the Gulf Coast Tournament, playing Northwest Florida State College on Monday, Dec. 30, followed by a matchup against Gulf Coast State College on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
 
The 2020 portion of the schedule kicks off on Saturday, Jan. 11, when Monroe hosts Roxbury Community College. The Mustangs will remain home on Thursday, Jan. 16, to host Hostos Community College. That weekend will then feature the Monroe College MLK Classic. Monroe will play Niagara County Community College on Saturday, Jan. 18, and then Erie Community College on Sunday, Jan. 19. Union County College will also be competing in the tournament that weekend.
 
The Mustangs will play next on Thursday, Jan. 23, when they visit Harcum for their first region matchup of the season. They then return home on Saturday, Jan. 25 to take on Lackawanna College. Wednesday, Jan. 29 will see the Mustangs host Region XV rival ASA College.
 
The Mustangs hit the road on Tuesday, Feb. 4, to play County College of Morris in Randolph, N.J. They then return home on Saturday, Feb. 8, for a matchup with Covenant College Prep.
 
The next week is a big one, with Monroe's final two regular season region matchups. The Mustangs host Harcum on Thursday, Feb. 13, before visiting ASA in Brooklyn on Saturday, Feb. 15. The regular season then concludes on Tuesday, Feb. 18, with a rematch against Morris.
 
The Mustangs take on their Bronx-campus counterparts Thursday evening to kick off the year as part of a season-opening doubleheader at the MAC. The women's game tips off a 5 p.m., and will be followed immediately after by the men's game at 7 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 12 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).