Monroe’s 29 Pushes Him Past 1,000 for Career
(collegiate basketball)
HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA—Hampden-Sydney senior Jeff Monroe (Raleigh, NC/Broughton) demonstrated why he is an All-American Wednesday night as he scored a game-high 29 points to lead the fifth-ranked Tigers to a come-from-behind, 72-67, victory over 24th-ranked Virginia Wesleyan in Old Dominion Athletic Conference basketball action. With the win, the Tigers improve to 14-1 overall and 7-1 in the ODAC as the Marlins drop to 12-3 overall and 6-3 in conference play.
Monroe tallied 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, while also hitting on four-of-four from beyond the arc as the Tigers rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to cut down the hot-shooting Marlins. His 29 points pushed him beyond the 1,000-point mark for his career as he became the 35th member of the 1,000-point club in Hampden-Sydney basketball history.
Virginia Wesleyan opened the 16-point advantage, 31-15, with 6:11 to play in the opening half as Justin Blazer and Peter Warren each bombed a pair of three’s along with a trifecta from David Doino as the Marlins hit on 5-of-7 from beyond the arc in the half and shot a solid 57 percent (15-29) from the floor. The Tigers pulled to within eight at the half, 37-29, thanks to 15 points from Monroe, who scored the team’s first 11 points of the half and cut the lead to single digits with a 15-foot jumper.
The Marlins pushed the lead to 11 points, 50-39, with 12:38 to play in the contest on a Peter Warren jumper, but the Tigers answered with a 10-0 run, as senior center Mike Thompson (Frederick, MD/Linganore) scored five straight points to help the team cut the Marlin lead to one, 50-49, with 9:22 remaining.
The Marlins were able to push their lead to seven points, 61-54, on a Brandon Adair jumper, but the Tigers came back as Monroe drained a pair of long-range three’s and hit a 12-foot baseline jumper to finally give the Tigers the lead, 64-63, with 2:11 to play.
Free throws by David Doino at the 1:25 mark again put the Marlins on top, 65-54, but a running jumper in the lane by Brian Gunn (Danville, VA/George Washington) put the Tigers back on top, 66-65, with just over a minute to play. Brandon Randall (Williamsburg, VA/Bruton) then hit four straight free throws, while Brian Gunn added a pair over the final minute of action to put the game on ice for the Tigers.
Monroe led all players with 29 points, while Thompson finished the game with 12 points and six rebounds. Gunn and Randall each finished with eight points and five assists as the Tigers shot 44 percent (26-59) from the floor, 36 percent (5-14) from three-point range and 79 percent (15-19) from the line.
David Doino paced the Marlins with 19 points and seven rebounds, while freshman forward Brandon Adair added 15 and six boards. Peter Warren finished with 13 as the Marlins cooled off in the second half and finished the game shooting 44 percent (25-57) overall, 39 percent (7-18) from beyond the arc and 71 percent (10-14) from the line, while out-rebounding the Tigers, 36-34.
Hampden-Sydney returns to action Saturday, January 24, as the team travels to Emory, VA, to take on ODAC-foe Emory and Henry at 2 pm. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.
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