New Rochelle, NY – Behind a spirited second half performance, the Monroe University men's basketball team defeated No. 3 Northwest Florida State College, 78-63, to close out the Monroe University Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
The two sides entered the half tied at 32, but the Mustangs outscored the Raiders, 46-31, in the second half to earn their first ranked win of the season and move to 3-0 at the invitational.
Sophomore
Ryan Williams Jr. was on fire, scoring a team-high 20 points on four threes. All four of the other starters for Monroe scored in double figures, with sophomore
Jordan Sanders concluding his breakout stretch of games with 12 points.
A dunk from sophomore
Hassan Washington set the tone for the contest in the first possession. Monroe jumped out to a physical, 7-2, lead after Williams Jr. sank his first three of the outing. The Raiders bounced back to tie the game four times prior to a Washington dunk making it 16-11.
Two free throws from freshman
Eric Mejia pushed the lead to eight before Northwest Florida State closed the first half on a 14-7 run to tie it up.
But Monroe responded to the ranked opponent's run out of the intermission, with Sanders sparking an 11-2 run to give the Mustangs a 43-34 lead. The lead didn't shrink below six points for the remainder of the game as Monroe controlled the tempo and forced 13 turnovers on the Raiders.
The Mustangs limited the Raiders to just three made threes on the day and controlled nearly every statistical category in a relatively stress-free second half.
Monroe moves to 5-2 and will take on Harford Community College on the road in its next outing on Thursday, November 21 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).
