NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., December 23, 2017 – The Monroe Express men's basketball team fell to Prestige Preparatory Academy, 82-73, Saturday at the Monroe Athletic Complex, dropping to 3-9 on the season.
 
After a back-and-forth start to the first half, Prestige Prep took the lead behind a 9-0 with 12:06 to play, and extended it out to seven with a 7-0 run five minutes later.
 
But the Express responded with a 7-0 run of their own, keyed by four points from Jessy Jimenez, who led the Express with 10 first-half points. The Patriots, however, ended the half on a 5-0 run and took a 40-36 lead into halftime.
 
Monroe quickly cut the deficit to one early on in the second half, but another Patriots' run gave Prestige Prep their largest lead of the game, 51-40 with 16:30 to play.
 
The Express cut the deficit to six with just over 10 minutes to play, but another scoring spurt from the Patriots, extended the deficit back out to double-digits for the Express, 71-60 with 8:51 to play.
 
Prestige Prep extended their lead out to as large as 14 with 7:30 to play, before the Express charged back with a run of their own. Ghetty Allui and Taffari Jarvis helped the Express cut the deficit to seven, 78-71 with just over two minutes to play.
 
But a couple Patriot buckets extended the lead deficit back to nine, and the Express fell to Prestige Prep, 82-73.
 
Allui led the Express with 21 points, falling one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards. Jimenez, Jarvis and Gian Batista joined Allui double figures, scoring 15, 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Batista led the Express on the glass with 13 rebounds, tallying his second double-double of the season, while also added four assists, three steals and two blocks.
 
Monroe shot 40.5 percent from the floor, but couldn't find their range from behind the arc, shooting just 3-of-13. Prestige Prep shot 51.7 percent from the field, and similar couldn't hit from three, shooting just 1-for-8.
 
The Express wrap up the 2017 portion of their schedule on Thursday, Dec. 28 when they travel to Staten Island, N.Y. to take on CNC Leadership Prep at 1 p.m.

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of Monroe's Bronx campus has six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level beginning with their inaugural seasons in the fall of 2017.
 
For more information about the Monroe Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter (@MonroeExpress) and Instagram (@MonroeExpress).