Garden City, N.Y., February 18, 2020 -   In historical fashion, the Monroe College Express men's basketball team defeated the No. 4 nationally-ranked Nassau Community College, earning a 79-74 victory on the road Tuesday night. The win was the Express' first over an NJCAA ranked opponent in program history and marks the first victory over Nassau since the program's inception in 2017.

Monroe wraps up the regular season with a 12-17 overall record while going 8-10 in NJCAA Region XV play. With the victory, the Express locks up the fourth seed heading into next week's Region XV Championship Tournament.

Freshman Kevon Wiggins and sophomore Kevin Benjamin combined for 52 points to lead the Express. Wiggins posted his fourth 30-point performance of the season, scoring a game-high 32 points on 9-of-15 from the field, 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line while adding seven rebounds.

Benjamin netted 20 points, shooting 9-of-15 for the field and piled up five rebounds and five assists. Freshman Adonis Robinson finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Rookie Isiah Ryan added 10 points, two rebounds, three assists, and three assists.

Freshman Jaiden Simon had three points, five rebounds, and two assists, sophomore Jameek Brown tallied two points, three rebounds, two assists, and three steals while classmate Brayan Lara grabbed three rebounds.

After falling behind by as much as 11 points midway through the first half, the Express sparked a 12-4 run to cut Nassau's lead down to three with 8:42 to go in the first half. The Express held the Lions scoreless for a two-minute stretch late in the first half, scoring six straight points to cut Nassau's lead down to one-point with under four minutes left.

In the second half, Nassau used a 10-2 run to jump out to a 10-point lead, 59-49, with 11:51 remaining. Trailing since the first half, Monroe stormed back with a 14-4 run to tie the contest at 63-63 with 7:27 to go on the clock. Nassau regained the lead, building up a six-point cushion with 2:43 remaining in regulation.

Down six, Wiggins' drained back-to-back three-pointers for the Express to tie the game once again, 74-74. Feeling the hot hand, Wiggins knocked down another shot from deep range to put the Express ahead by three (77-74) with 48 seconds left and nailed a pair of free throws with 17 seconds to seal the victory.

Up next, the Monroe Express men's basketball program will host the No. 5 seeded Bronx Community College Broncos in the quarterfinals of the 2020 Region XV Championship Tournament on Tuesday, Feb. 25. Game time is set for 8 p.m. at the Monroe Athletic Complex in New Rochelle, N.Y.


ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 30 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus as of the fall of 2017, has 11 varsity and junior varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
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