NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Monroe Express men's basketball successfully opened their season Tuesday evening with a 91-46 home victory against the University of Connecticut Avery Point Pointers. This is the Express' fifth consecutive season opening victory in program history. With the victory, the Express move to 1-0, and the Pointers fall to 0-2.

The Express came out the gate rolling with a 12-0 run in the first four minutes of action, capped off by a Jasigha Barnes layup at the 16:12 mark. Some time later, Monroe extended the lead to 20 points, after a Pointer miscue allowed Jared Eason to score a fastbreak lay-in to put the score at 23-3. The Express ended the period with a 30 point edge after a scrappy possession that saw Andrew Molina clean up a Jovan Young layup with a tip-in to beat the halftime buzzer. 

The blue and gold kept firing on cylinders out of the intermission, scoring 44 points, narrowly matching their first half performance. At the seven minute mark, Molina knocked down a 3-point shot from Siddiq McNair to stretch the advantage to 40 points. Monroe eventually reached their largest lead of the game at 48 points on a McNair takeaway and bucket. 

Molina led all scorers with 21 points and four rebounds on 9-of-11 shooting in only 15 minutes of action. Quame' Smith followed with 12 points, five rebounds, including four offensive boards, one assist and one steal. Abubakar Kromah pitched in 10 rebounds, while Barnes and Chad Duke both registered three steals.

For the Pointers, Elijah Botnik had 11 points, four steals, one assist and one rebound. Devan Barnum also added 11 points, with five rebounds and one assist. Justin Porter collected five Express giveaways.

The Express edged UCONN in field goal percentage (53.9 to 24.6 percent), points in the paint (68-10), rebounds (34), points of turnovers (31-12), fast break points (22-4), steals (17-12), assists (16-4), second chance points (11-5) and blocks (3-2). 

The Express return to action Thursday (Nov. 10) for a Region 15 matchup on the road against the Queensborough Community College Tigers at 7 PM.

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 35 teams competing across nine sports. There are 21 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports and men's volleyball programs, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 14 teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
 
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).