WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. (Feb. 25, 2022) - Senior KC Ndefo notched his third double-double of the season and four different players scored in double figures as the Saint Peter's University men's basketball team earned a 70-65 win over Monmouth University Friday night inside OceanFirst Bank Center.
Ndefo finished the night with 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Peacocks improved to 13-11 overall and 11-6 in MAAC play in a tie for second place in the standings with Siena.
Monmouth, meanwhile, dropped to 18-10 and 10-7 in the league as they sit alone in fourth place in the conference with just three games left to play for each team.
With the win, SPU has clinched a first round bye in the MAAC Tournament as they lock up at least a top-five finish in the regular season standings.
Junior Matthew Lee finished the contest with 12 points while fellow classmates Doug Edert and Daryl Banks III chipped in 10 to join Ndefo in double figures. It was just the third time this season the Peacocks had at least four student-athletes with 10 points or more.
After coming into the contest as the top rebounding team in the MAAC, Monmouth pulled down just 25 rebounds compared to 39 for SPU as the Peacocks limited the Hawks to just eight offensive boards in the contest.
How it Happened
- The two teams traded points back-and-forth throughout the early stages of the contest with neither team leading by more than five 10 minutes into the first half.
- Trailing 17-15, the Peacocks grabbed the lead with a 7-0 run fueled by a 3-pointer from Banks III.
- Monmouth answered right back with six straight points of their own to take a 26-25 lead at the under-four timeout.
- SPU took over down the stretch of the opening stanza, closing the half on a 10-2 run thanks to five points from Ndefo and two more by Lee and Clarence Rupert to take a 35-28 lead into the locker room.
- Coming out of the break, Hassan Drame hit a layup and freshman Jaylen Murray nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to stretch the lead to double figures at 43-33 with 14:33 remaining.
- The Hawks did not go away, however, scoring five straight points of their own to cut the deficit back down to five.
- With the score 46-41 in favor of the Peacocks, SPU again pushed the lead over 10 after Edert and Murray completed back-to-back 3-point plays on layups to make the score 52-41 with 9:11 left.
- Needing an answer down 10, Monmouth turned to George Papas who provided a huge spark with four consecutive 3-pointers as a part of a 14-5 run to make the score 59-58 with 4:00 remaining in the contest.
- Much like in the first half, the Peacocks were fantastic down the stretch as Banks III, Edert, Ndefo and Lee all hit layups to lead to an 11-2 Peacock run that gave SPU a 70-60 lead with 32 seconds left.
- The Hawks made things interesting with five points in less than 20 seconds late, but the Peacocks were able to hang on to grab the five-point win on the road.
Inside the Numbers
- SPU was dominant down low with a 42-22 edge in points in the paint to go along with the significant rebounding advantage.
- The Peacocks outscored Monmouth 12-1 in second chance points and 26-6 in bench points in the win.
- Murray finished just shy of double figures with eight points while Hassan and Fousseyni Drame both chipped in six points apiece.
- From the floor, SPU shot 48.1 percent in the game and 33.3 percent from 3-point range while the Hawks shot 43.8 percent from the floor and 47.4 percent from downtown.
- Neither team was particularly effective at the free throw line as the Peacocks went 13 for 23 and Monmouth finished 14 of 23 from the charity stripe.
- Ndefo had a presence on both ends of the floor throughout the night and was +18 in 29 minutes on the court.
- With the win, SPU swept the season series from the Hawks for the second time in three seasons after doing so in the 2019-20 season as well.
- In taking a look at the MAAC standings, the Peacocks are currently tied for second place with Siena in the league with three games to play. The Saints would earn the head-to-head tiebreaker over SPU by virtue of their two wins in the series earlier this season. Siena closes its season with contests against Monmouth, Niagara and Canisius.
From the Sidelines (Head Coach Shaheen Holloway)
- "This was a great win for us. Give those guys a lot of credit. Papas was single-handedly keeping them in the game at one point hitting every shot but to come away with the win in this environment is big for our program."
- "I play 12 players in double-digit minutes throughout the year so somebody is going to give us something different every night. I thought the difference tonight was KC Ndefo played great tonight. I felt like he played like the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year."
Next Up
- The Peacocks return to action Sunday when they welcome Niagara to Run Baby Run Arena at 2:00 p.m.
- SPU knocked off the Purple Eagles 74-68 in overtime earlier this season.
- The contest will be preceded by a Hall of Fame Luncheon and ceremony to honor the Saint Peter's Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
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