BOLIVIA, N.C., December 19, 2021 – The Monroe College Mustangs men's basketball team is gaining a reputation for making comebacks this season. Aiding in that reputation is the result of Sunday afternoon's matchup against Cape Fear Community College on the final day of the Brunswick CC Holiday Classic, in which the Mustangs erased a late 10-point deficit to come all the way back and defeat the Sea Devils, 85-77. The Mustangs improve to 13-4 overall, winning 10 of their last 11 contests, while the Sea Devils fall to 7-5.
 
The Mustangs trailed, 70-60, with 5:11 on the clock in the second half. Keith Warren Jr. made back-to-back threes to get the Mustangs back within four, but the Sea Devils made a three of their own to go back up by seven. Warren followed with another bucket to draw within five at 73-68 with 4:09 remaining. Melvin Council Jr. then made a contested layup to make it a three-point game. Nikola Danicic scored one off the glass to make it a one-point difference, and then after a miss by Cape Fear, Council found Danicic under the hoop, where he put it through the net to put the Mustangs up by a point with 2:31 to go.
 
Kyrin Hill drained a three with 1:41 left to make it a four-point edge for Monroe. Cape Fear scored on a follow-up dunk, but the Sea Devils were then given a technical foul after the basket. Council made both chances after the foul to go back up by four at 79-75. Still scorching hot, Warren dropped one in from the right corner of the free-throw line to push the lead to six with under a minute to play. The Mustangs made four free throws down the stretch, helping them hold off the Sea Devils to win by eight.
 
Council and Warren matched for the game-high on Sunday, impressively scoring 30 points apiece in the victory. Council turned in one of his best all-around efforts in the game, finishing with 18 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, while also going 14-of-16 from the free-throw line. Warren sank five of the team's eight threes in the game and made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. Nikola Danicic got the start and totaled 10 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while also scoring Monroe's go-ahead bucket.
 
The 2021 portion of Monroe's season came to an end with Sunday's victory. The Mustangs will get back to action the weekend of Jan. 8, 2022, when they host the Monroe College Classic at the Monroe Athletic Complex. The Mustangs' first game of the weekend will be on Saturday, Jan. 8, with a 5 p.m. tip-off against Hostos Community College.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 14 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 Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).