2/15/24
 
NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Mustangs from Monroe raced past the Falcons from the opening tip, leading wire-to-wire and shooting an astounding 68% for the game to beat Lackawanna College, 125-81, on Thursday evening at the Monroe Athletic Complex in New York in non-region men's basketball action.
 
The Falcons (8-17) just could not withstand the pace set by the Division I Mustangs (20-5), as Monroe shot 63% right out of the gate in the first half. Monroe raced to an insurmountable early lead thanks to that hot shooting and making eight three-point shots, shooting out to 62-31 lead at the break. The second half went even better, as Monroe shot a blistering 74% from the field, putting up 63 second-half points. The Mustangs hit 13 three-pointers for the game, had nine players in double-figures, and had a 34-14 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Lackawanna shot 40% from the floor, hit 12 three-pointers, and was 17-for-20 from the free throw line for the game, putting four players in double-figures, but the Falcons committed 16 turnovers and were outrebounded 48-19, giving up 23 second-chance points for the game.
 
The Falcons were led by Aamir Mack (Sophomore; Atlantic City, NJ), who scored a game-high 21 points, going 8-for-9 from the free throw line. Na'Shawn Jones (Sophomore; Paterson, NJ) put up 15 points off the bench, while Daryl Coleman (Sophomore; Allentown, PA) had 13 points and Jawane Buckner (Sophomore; Wilkes-Barre, PA) had ten points and four assists.
 
Monroe was led by Hassan Washington's 19 points and nine rebounds. Devere Palmer Jr. had 18 points off the bench, while Zatai Townsend had 15 points for the Mustangs, who won their eleventh straight game.
 
The loss was the seventh straight for Lackawanna, and ninth in the last ten games for the Falcons. Mack now sits just four points shy of 1,000 points for his career, with one more regular season game to go. Lackawanna will end its regular season on the road this Saturday, February 17^th, when the Falcons travel to Mercer County CC for a Region XIX DII men's basketball clash. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:00pm ET from the MCCC gymnasium.