NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., January 7, 2023 –
Melvin Council Jr. became the third Mustang in the history of the Monroe College men's basketball program to reach the 1,000-point milestone, doing so on a three-pointer to open the second half to help lead the No. 12-ranked Mustangs to a 97-64 victory over Monroe Community College on Saturday as part of the Monroe College Men's and Women's Mixer at the Monroe Athletic Complex. The Mustangs improve to 14-2 with the win, while the Tribunes drop to 8-10.
Council joins a prestigious list by surpassing the 1,000-point plateau on Saturday. He now finds himself among Monroe College legends Issiah Francis (1995-97, 1,274 points) and Garfield "Ricky" Johns (2003-05, 1,202 points) as the only student-athletes in Monroe history to reach the milestone. Council now has more history in his sights with at least 14 games remaining in his sophomore campaign at Monroe College.
The Tribunes scored the first two points of the game, but the Mustangs had the early momentum, scoring the next 11 to take a big lead in the first three minutes. Back-to-back threes by
Keith Warren Jr. capped off an 8-0 run for the Mustangs that put them ahead, 20-6. A three by
Ziare Wells marked another eight straight points for the Mustangs, including a layup by Council that put him within four points of 1,000, putting them up by 21 with 9:28 left in the half.
After a pair of free throws for the visitors, the Mustangs went on yet another big run, scoring 11 in a row to push the lead to 45-15. Council sank another layup with 2:37 to go in the half to put him just two points shy of the milestone. He went to the free-throw line with 48 seconds in the half, making the first, but missing the second, going into halftime just one point away from 1,000 and with the Mustangs on top, 54-26.
Coming into the game needing 12 points to surpass 1,000, Council finished the first half with 11.
Tyje Kelton had a big first half with 18 points.
Ziare Wells came off the bench to total nine, while Warren added eight.
Council went for it on the first possession of the second half, but was unable to get a jumper to drop. After Council took the ball away and drew a foul coming up the court, he was waiting at the elbow for a pass from under the rim from Warren, the fellow Rochester native, setting him up to drain a three-pointer, surpassing the 1,000-point mark.
The three put the Mustangs up by 31 in the first minute of the second half. The Tribunes later cut the deficit down to 25, but the Mustangs responded with six straight to go up, 65-34. With 12:12 to go, a slam dunk by
Hamdel Mohammed saw the Mustangs' lead peak at 38 points. The Mustangs then did their best to keep their distance from the Tribunes and kill the clock, eventually hearing the final buzzer sound with a 33-point advantage.
Council finished with 19 points in the game after taking the pressure off and surpassing 1,000 points. Kelton tallied a team0high 25 points with five rebounds in the win. Warren made four three-pointers to finish with 14 points, as well as a team-high five assists.
Zatai Townsend contributed 12 points and three steals.
Albert Vargas matched Warren with five assists, while
Nikola Danicic led the team with seven rebounds.
The Mustangs shot 59.7 percent (40-of-67) from the field in the victory, while making 52.4 percent (11-of-21) of their shots from beyond the arc. The Mustangs took advantage of their takeaways with a 22-4 edge in points off turnovers.
The Mustangs are back at it tomorrow for the final day of the Monroe Mixer. Monroe will take on Div. II No. 17 Howard Community College in Sunday's third game, with tip-off scheduled for 3 p.m.
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 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 11 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).
