NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Monroe Mustangs men’s basketball team pulled out a 106-94 win over Manor College on Saturday to finish undefeated in the Monroe College Classic and move to 2-0 on the season.
Behind Damont Kearse’ 13 first half points, the Mustangs raced out to a double-digit lead over the Manor College Blue Jays midway through the first quarter. The Mustangs led by as many as 26 points with 3:25 to play before Manor went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to 17.
Two free throws from Ebrima Jassey Demba stopped the Blue Jays run at nine, and the Monroe followed with a run of their own, taking a 55-35 lead into halftime.
The Blue Jays started out the second half on a run, holding the Mustangs scoreless for the first 2:50 of the second half and cutting Monroe’s lead to just 13. The Mustangs though, weathered the run and held a 73-56 lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the second half.
Monroe and Manor traded buckets the next few possessions, before the Blue Jays made one final run cutting the Mustangs’ lead to just seven with 2:29 to play. Once again though, Monroe held strong and eventually pulled away with a 12-point victory, sealed by clutch free throws from Kearse, Isaiah Ward and Deng Bol Yol.
Ward led the Mustangs with 21 points, one of five to score in double figures for Monroe. Damont Kearse finished with 19 after his 12 first-half points, while Bryan Assie fell one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Also in double-figures for the Mustangs were Christopher Burkley and Nukoy Singleton, who tallied 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Defensively, the Mustangs held the Blue Jays to just 36.4 percent shooting, including just 30 percent from beyond the arc, while forcing 22 turnovers and drawing 34 personal fouls.
The Mustangs shot 45.5 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Monroe heads to Baltimore, Md. on Friday, Nov. 17 to kick off the Baltimore City Community College Tournament, starting with a neutral site matchup against Chesapeake College at 4 p.m. on Friday, followed by games against Richard Bland College and Baltimore City on Saturday and Sunday.