Courtesy of SaintPetersPeacocks.com
JERSEY CITY, NJ – The table turned tonight in the hOURglass rivalry between Saint Peter’s men’s basketball and Monmouth University as the Peacocks ousted the Hawks, 71-61, snapping a three-game losing streak to the Hawks in the Yanitelli Center on Monday night. Senior guard Trevis Wyche (Neptune, NJ/Saint Peter’s Prep) scored 17 of his game-high 20 points in the second half, to help improve the Peacocks to 2-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and 6-7 overall.
Monmouth quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Chazz Patterson (Browns Mills, NJ/Trenton Catholic) hit a three to stop the run just before the first media timeout on the floor. With an 11-8 deficit, the Peacocks used a 14-1 run to take over the lead in the game at 22-12, a lead that the Peacocks would never squander for the rest of the game. The run began on back-to-back three point treys by Sam Idowu (Brooklyn, NY/Lafayette Educational Complex) tying up the game for the first time at 11-11, with 12:45 on the clock and then Antwon Portley (Lancaster, TX/Lancaster) hit his defender with a pump fake, scoring on a jumper to give the Peacocks their first lead at 13-11. Three consecutive three-point baskets by Nnamdi Enechionyia (Springfield, VA/St. James School (Samford)), Nick Griffin (Rockville, MD/Col. Zadok Magruder (George Washington)), and Cavon Baker (Queens, NY/New Hope Academy [Md.] (Houston)), would extend the lead to 22-12 with eight minutes to go in the half. Both teams added five more points to take a 27-19 score into halftime. The Peacocks held Monmouth to a season low, 19 first half points (previous low was 21 points at Syracuse) on 30.8 percent shooting from the field (8-26) and 18.2 percent shooting from three (2-11). The Peacocks also forced the Hawks into nine turnovers, scoring over half of their points off of Monmouth mishaps (14 points).
Monmouth started the half off scoring the first five points, but the Peacocks responded behind Wyche and Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, PA/Math, Civics and Science Charter) scoring the next 10 points combined (Wyche six, Welton four) extending the lead back to double-figures at 37-27. The Hawks then put together an 11-3 run to pull within two points of the Peacocks (40-38) with nine and a half left to play. As the Peacocks did all game, the Hawks run was answered by a 12-1 Saint Peter’s run that was capped off by Wyche hitting a deep three as the shot clock expired to give the Peacocks the 52-41 advantage with 5:52 left. The Peacocks kept their foots on the accelerator, only allowing the Hawks to get as close as seven points and gaining a lead as high as 15 points, before closing out the contest at 71-61. The 61 total points was the second lowest scoring output for Monmouth (season low was 50 points at Syracuse) who came into the game averaging 80.6 points contest.
In the win, the Peacocks held the Hawks to 36.7 (22-60) percent shooting from the field and 29.2 (7-24) percent shooting from behind the arc and forced them into 15 total turnovers.
Wyche added a season-high eight assists on top of his 20 points which matched his season best (scored 20 at St. Francis Brooklyn 12/23). Welton scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Portley totaled nine points, and both Patterson and Idowu put eight points up on the scoreboard.
The Hawks were led in scoring by Micah Seaborn (19) and Justin Robinson (11).
The Peacocks return to action on Saturday night with a meeting against Siena at the Times Union Center, in Albany, NY. Tip off is set for 7p.m. and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
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