NORTH EAST, Md., February 5, 2023 – After some hot shooting by Cecil College put the Mustangs in a deep hole early on, the No. 10-ranked Monroe College Mustangs men's basketball team was unable to take control despite making a comeback, suffering an upset defeat to the Seahawks, 78-76, on Sunday. The Mustangs see their 12-game winning streak come to an end and fall to 22-3 with the loss, while the Seahawks improve to 13-10.
The Mustangs were stunned to start Sunday's contest, as the Seahawks ran out to an immediate 10-0 lead, while the Mustangs did not make their first basket until nearly four minutes into the game. Cecil managed to lead by as many as 13 points on a few different occasions, the last being a 26-13 advantage over Monroe, before the Mustangs began to push back.
Monroe turned things around with eight straight points to get back within five of the Seahawks at 26-21. Cecil's Jordan Strickland hit a jumper to push the lead back to seven, but
Albert Vargas drained a three to get the Mustangs within four. After Vernon Simmons went 2-of-2 from the line for the home team, the Mustangs scored the next four to make it a 30-28 score with 3:23 left in the half. The Seahawks stretched the lead back out to seven with just under two minutes to go, but
Melvin Council Jr. made the final four points of the half, leaving the Mustangs down, 36-33, heading to the break.
After a slow start, Council produced 14 points by the halftime buzzer to lead the team.
Emmanuel Ogbole had eight points and five rebounds at the half. Vargas hit a pair of threes to total six points going into the break.
Dominick Carrington made a couple threes early in the second half to put the Seahawks up by six, but the Mustangs finally managed to jump ahead when
Tyje Kelton hit a three, followed by layups from Council and Kelton, making it a 43-42 game in favor of the Mustangs. The lead did not last long, as Cecil scored the next five to go back up by four. Kelton hit another three to get within one, but the Seahawks managed to go back up by five shortly after.
Soon after, Ogbole drew a foul while making a layup, turning it into a three-point play to get Monroe within one of the Seahawks. After a steal by Kelton,
Keith Warren Jr. sank a three-pointer to put the Mustangs ahead, 55-53, but Frank Toney responded with three for Cecil to put the home team back on top. Warren then drew a foul, making 1-of-2 to tie the game at 56-56 with 11:19 on the clock.
After nearly two minutes without any scoring,
Stefano Faloppa drew a foul for Monroe, making both shots from the stripe to put the Mustangs ahead by two. It was short-lived once again, as a trio of free throws helped Cecil go back up by one. Kelton then made a layup, but Simmons scored on an alley-oop for the Seahawks. Faloppa then pulled down offensive reason and put it back up for two to make it a 62-61 lead for Monroe with 7:25 remaining in regulation.
Faloppa followed a timeout with a jumper to make it a three-point Monroe lead, but Toney got to the line twice for the Seahawks and made all four chances to put the home team up a point.
Hamdel Mohammed then drew a foul and made his shots to take the lead right back. Carrington hit a three for the Seahawks, but Faloppa hit a long jumper to tie the game at 68-68 with the clock reading 4:22.
Jawarie Hamelin drew a foul and made the back half of two shots to make it a 69-68 game. Ogbole then went up hard to the rim, making a layup and drawing a foul to produce a three-point play and put the Mustangs up by four. Carrington responded for Cecil with a three to make it a one-point game once again. The Seahawks then got a stop and drew a foul, with Simmons making both to put the Seahawks ahead once again. Ogbole made a layup to take the lead back, but Strickland responded with one of his own for Cecil to take the lead back. Council once again put the Mustangs back on top with a layup for a 76-75 lead with 1:13 to go.
On the next Cecil possession, Carrington missed a jumper, but Toney got the ball back. Carrington then made a three, putting the Seahawks up, 78-76, with 41 seconds left. The Mustangs nearly turned the ball over on the next time up the court, but managed to narrowly get the ball back. The shot clock was erroneously reset, and the referees stopped the game and put one second on the shot clock for the Mustangs. The ball was inbounded to Ogbole, who was unable to get a shot off in time. The Mustangs were forced to foul, but Carrington missed both chances, and a jump ball after the rebound gave the Mustangs the ball with just five seconds remaining. The Mustangs were unable to find a lane to drive, forcing Faloppa to try a long three, but it rimmed out as the final buzzer sounded.
Council finished with 21 points in Sunday's defeat, and dished out a team-high three assists. Ogbole came off the bench to total 16 points and six rebounds. Kelton tallied 11 points with a team-best seven boards. Faloppa scored 10 points with four rebounds, two blocks and two steals in the game.
The Mustangs will get more than a week to put Sunday's upset loss behind them, playing next on Monday, Feb. 13, in a road matchup at Lackawanna College. Tip-off is set for 6 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).
