Monmouth Stuns Mountaineers

Morgantown, WV - Monmouth senior guard Xander Rice scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Hawks (1-1) to an upset win over the West Virginia Mountaineers (1-1) Friday night 73-65.

West Virgina began the game on a 5-0 spurt, but the Hawks put together a 17-7 run, taking the lead off a three from freshman guard Abdi Bashir Jr., building a 17-12 advantage at the 11:16 mark of the first half.

The Mountaineers answered with an 8-0 run, capped off with Kobe Johnson driving the lane on consecutive trips down the floor for a bucket and a pair of free throws to reclaim the lead 20-17.

Xander Rice produced six points as part of a Hawks 10-2 run to regain the five-point advantage, but West Virginia guard Seth Wilson ended the run with a three to spark a 7-0 run and a 29-27 lead with 2:09 left to play in the half.

West Virginia held a one-point lead at halftime, 35-34. Monmouth's Xander Rice and West Virginia's Jesse Edwards led all scorers with 10 points.

Monmouth senior guard Jakari Spence and WVU forward Quin Slazinski traded bucket to start the second half, then Rice buried a three to give the Hawks a two-point lead.

The Hawks led by nine at 13:57 mark of the second half before a 7-0 run by the Mountaineers cut the Hawk led to two before Rice buried a three to push the Monmouth lead back to five.

Monmouth continued its offensive output led by Rice's X second half points, giving the Hawks a 13-point advantage with just under three minutes to play in the game as the Hawks handed the Mountaineers their first loss of the season 73-65.

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