JERSEY CITY, NJ – Saint Peter's men's basketball earned its second straight home win, holding off Monmouth's late comeback attempt, for a 66-63 win. The Peacocks improve to 5-4 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), good for a three-way tie for third-place in the conference standings.
What Went Down
- Five early points by Quinn Taylor and four by Daryl Banks III helped get Saint Peter's out to a 13-6 lead, just over five minutes into the contest.
- Monmouth answered the Peacocks' quick start, using a 10-2 run to take its only lead of the night at 16-15 by the under 12-minute media timeout.
- Coming out of the media break, Dallas Watson fed a cutting KC Ndefo for the go-ahead layup.
- The game would go back and forth, finding the two New Jersey rivals locked at 21-21 with 6:42 left in the opening frame.
- A three by Cameron Jones would break the tie, and the Peacocks would never relinquish the lead for the rest of the half, taking a 36-29 lead into the break.
- Early in the second half, Saint Peter's lead was cut to two points (36-34), but the home team responded with an 11-4 run over the next five minutes to gain its largest lead of the night; a nine-point advantage (47-38).
- It would be the Hawks who put the game's next run together, outscoring the Peacocks 15-6 through the contest's next seven plus minutes, knotting the affair at 53-53 with 5:35 left.
- Following the tie, Banks accounted for a quick 5-0 spurt by Saint Pete's, finding Hassan Drame for an open triple, and then scoring on a layup to put the team up 58-53.
- The Peacocks would maintain a lead above three points right up until 51 ticks remained and the team held a seven-point lead following a pair of free throws by Aaron Estrada.
- Despite the lead late, Saint Peter's allowed Monmouth to stick around, giving up six points off of a made triple and a three-point play, holding onto a 66-63 edge with 5.8 second to play.
- A turnover by the Peacocks in the backcourt would give Monmouth the ball and a shot to tie, but the Hawks missed the game-tying three as time expired.
Inside the Numbers
- A trio of Peacocks scored above the 10-point threshold. Estrada was the team's leading scorer with 11 points, his fifth time this season leading the team in points.
- Banks and Watson scored 10 points each. Banks' fifth time in double-figures this season and Watson's second.
- Matthew Lee and Taylor followed with eight points apiece and the duo of H. Drame and Ndefo both grabbed nine rebounds and scored six points.
- This was the fourth straight contest in which Saint Peter's led for over 32 minutes, controlling the time with the lead for 35:42 in the win.
- Saint Peter's won the battle of the boards (41-33), points from turnovers (16-8), and bench points (36-12).
- The victory improves the Peacocks home conference record to 3-1 on the season, and guarantees no less than a .500 record during the current four-game home stanza.
- The win over first-place Monmouth also give Saint Peter's its second win of the season over the current first-place squad --- Peacocks defeated Quinnipiac when they were ranked first in the MAAC standings also.
Up Next
- The men remain in Jersey City for a Friday night meeting against Manhattan.
- Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ between the two squads.
