New Rochelle, NY – The Monroe University men's basketball team survived a hard-fought battle against Hagerstown Community College, 72-68, in its Monroe University Invitational opener on Thursday evening.
Trailing 62-61 with three minutes remaining, sophomore
Jordan Sanders hit a crucial three-pointer to give Monroe a slim two-point lead. From there, the Mustangs closed the game on an 8-6 run to secure the victory over a physical Hawks team.
Sanders was massive in the outing, contributing two clutch threes down the stretch plus playing pivotal defense across 11 minutes. The Atlanta native scored all eight of his points in the second half. Sophomore
Devere Palmer Jr. led the way with 14 points, while fellow sophomore
Hassan Washington supplied 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting.
The Mustangs jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the early going, with Washington scoring twice from the field to open the contest. But Hagerstown battled back — a prelude to the flow of the remainder of the game — taking an 11-10 lead.
While Monroe maintained a consistent lead throughout the remainder of the first half, the Hawks's physical play caused some fits, with the Mustangs committing 12 turnovers over the opening 20 minutes.
The back-and-forth affair ramped up in the second half, with both teams trading leads. The final 20 minutes saw seven lead changes and five ties. But the Mustangs continued to battle, even as they faced their largest deficit of the night at 51-48 with nine minutes left to play.
Sanders hit his first of two clutch threes to tie the game at 51, which helped open the floor for Monroe to go on a small, yet crucial 10-5 run. That run segued into the final four minutes of competition, which led to Sanders once again comingup big for the Mustangs.
Free throws then sealed the victory as Monroe moved back into the win column following a two-game losing streak. At 3-0 and 1-0 at the Monroe University Invitational, the Mustangs will next take on Allegany College of Maryland on Friday at 7:00 pm.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE UNIVERSITY
The athletic program at Monroe University encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 20 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as the Monroe University marching band, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeUMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (
@MonroeMustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
