NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., March 10, 2023 – The Monroe College Mustangs men's basketball team is heading to the 2023 NJCAA Div. I Men's Basketball East District Championship Final, as the top-seeded Mustangs rolled to a 102-69 victory over No. 4-seeded Hagerstown Community College in Saturday's semifinal matchup at the Monroe Athletic Complex. The Mustangs will now face off with No. 3 Allegany College of Maryland in Saturday's championship game.
After Hagerstown opened the game with a 4-2 lead, the Mustangs found their rhythm, scoring 14-of-16 points to take a 16-6 lead on the Hawks. The visitors got back within seven, but the Mustangs stayed hot with 14 straight points, capped off by a three off the glass by
Ziare Wells that made it a 34-13 game.
The lead reached 20 when
Hamdel Mohammed made 2-of-2 from the free-throw line, and then Mohammed made a layup the next time down the court to put the Mustangs on top, 42-20. The Hawks cut the deficit to 18 before Monroe put together another eight straight to take a 52-26 advantage with 4:54 to play in the half. A three by
Jawarie Hamelin with just under two minutes to play made it a 60-34 game. The Hawks scored 3-of-4 down the stretch, but
Melvin Council Jr. drained a three at the buzzer to send the game to the half with Monroe on top, 64-37.
Council dominated the opening half with 22 points on 9-of-10 shooting, as well as four assists and four steals.
Tyje Kelton tallied 13 points.
Keith Warren Jr. added nine points. Hamelin led the team with four rebounds, and matched Council's four assists through 20 minutes.
The Mustangs steadily added to the lead early in the second half. A 7-0 run had the home team up, 76-41, with 16:06 on the clock. The lead hit 40 points with 12:09 left in the second half after an
Emmanuel Ogbole layup made it a 90-50 score. The Mustangs went scoreless for more than six minutes, allowing the Hawks to score 11 straight to get within 29, but
Nikola Danicic halted the run with a three with 5:47 to go. With the lead back down to 29, Monroe went on a 9-0 run to surpass the century mark and go up, 102-64, with just 1:50 left. Hagerstown scored the game's final five points to hit the final score of 102-69.
Playing limited minutes in the second half, Council finished with a team-high 26 points and six assists in the win. Kelton totaled 20 points in the game. Warren contributed 12 points, while
Ziare Wells and Mohammed each picked up 11. Mohammed also led the Mustangs with eight points in the game.
The Mustangs shot 52.2 percent (35-of-67) from the field in the game. They outrebounded the Hawks, 44-29, while also outscoring them in the paint, 38-20. The Mustangs took advantage of 22 Hagerstown turnovers with a 33-13 advantage in points off turnovers.
Earlier in the evening, No. 3 Allegany defeated No. 2 Harcum College, 82-70, with a big second-half effort to advance to Saturday's championship game. The Mustangs and Trojans will now face off for the East District Title tomorrow at the Monroe Athletic Complex. Tip-off is set for 2 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).
