BRYN MAWR, Pa., January 29, 2023 – A highly anticipated Region 15/19 matchup was never in doubt for the No. 11-ranked Monroe College Mustangs men's basketball team on Sunday, as the Mustangs led from coast-to-coast in a 91-61 victory over No. 23 Harcum College at the gymnasium at Our Mother of Good Counsel. The Mustangs claim their 12th straight win to improve to 22-2, while the Bears suffer their first defeat of the season to drop to 19-1.
The Mustangs controlled the game across the first six minutes, rolling to a 14-2 lead on the back of
Tyje Kelton's nine points. The Bears then chipped away at their deficit a bit to get within eight, but the Mustangs responded with the next four to push the lead back out to 12 at 20-8. Po'Boigh King made a three for the Bears, but the Mustangs tallied another six straight to make it a 15-point game with 8:24 to go in the half.
After an Amahrie Simpkins bucket for Harcum, the Mustangs on an 8-1 run, pushing the lead to 20 points at 34-14. The Bears then worked their way back into the game over the final five minutes of the half, getting within 11 points at 41-30 before Kelton's jumper with 26 seconds left sent the game to halftime with Monroe on top, 43-30.
Kelton led all scorers with 13 points at the break, while also pulling down a game-high eight rebounds.
Emmanuel Ogbole's first half back from injury saw him score nine points with four rebounds off the bench.
Melvin Council Jr. totaled six points and seven rebounds, while leading the team with three steals, two assists and two blocked shots.
The scoring picked up early in the second half. Kelton got things started by hitting a layup through a foul, turning it into a three-point play to make it a 16-point game. The two teams combined for 33 points across the first six minutes, seeing Monroe go up, 61-45. Things slowed down a bit from there, but the Mustangs still managed to put together 13 straight points while holding Harcum off the board for nearly seven minutes before Ahmad Harrison made 1-of-2 free throws to leave Monroe up, 70-46, with 8:42 to play.
After another basket for Harcum make it a 22-point game,
Keith Warren Jr. began to heat up, hitting back-to-back threes to put Monroe up, 76-48. The run kept going with five more points, making in an 11-0 stretch that gave the Mustangs a commanding 81-48 edge with 5:13 on the clock. The Bears fought back with a 10-2 run to get back within 25 points with just under three minutes remaining, but the Mustangs turned things right back around, scoring eight straight to go up by 33 points before closing it out in the final minute for the 30-point win.
Council and Kelton proved to be the stars of the show on Sunday. Council finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocks in a huge game for the 2022 All-American. Kelton produced a big double-double as well with 20 points and 10 rebounds, his third double-double of the season.
Ziare Wells was right there with them with 18 points and three steals. Warren came off the bench to score 14 points, while Ogbole totaled 11 points and six boards in his return.
Hamdel Mohammed finished with four points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
The Mustangs shot 52.3 percent (34-of-65) from the field in the win, including a clutch 59.4 percent in the second half. They also made 79.2 percent (19-of-24) of their free throws. Harcum was held to 29.1 percent shooting in the game. Monroe held a 51-43 edge in rebounding, and outscored the Bears in the paint, 46-30.
With a huge victory and a 12-game winning streak in-hand, the Mustangs will look to keep rolling when they play next on Sunday, Feb. 5, in a road matchup at Cecil College in North East, Md. Tip-off against the Seahawks is set for 1 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).
