Monmouth Roll Over Niagara
- Mar 3, 2017
- 2 min read
Photo: Kaleb Aschenbreener/Upstate Sports Zone
17 straight wins for Monmouth coming into their first matchup, they knew it wasn’t going to be an easy test. Niagara (10-22) is coming off a clutch upset win against Quinnipiac.
Niagara knew it wasn’t going to be easy locking down Justin Robinson, especially at the TU Center, the place he is known to play best.
Monmouth started off slow, not getting guard Justin Robinson involved. Then in the last 5 minutes of the first half, the Hawks hit 5 of 6 shots to extend the lead with 2:50 left to go.
Coach King Rice added after the game that “Our defense was solid tonight, and our bench has been our key during this winning stretch”.
Monmouth came out of the locker room hot. That led to an eventual 25-point lead that closed out the game. Pillari had 14 for Canisius in the 1st half, only 2 more points coming in the second half, it was a good night off the bench. “I would not be surprised if you see more time out of him this year and especially in the future”. After Justin Robinson was taken out the bench really stepped up for Monmouth. Their bench outscored Niagara’s 42-24 and propelled them to a victory. In the win for Monmouth, they lost key guard Michael Seaborne to an injury. Rice added after the game that “Since that 2nd meeting with rider, Mike has been playing with a torn meniscus. I cannot keep this guy off of the floor.
Louie Pillari led all scorers with 16 points. Dominic Robb led Niagara with 12 points. Robb was big inside for Niagara. The #1 seed Monmouth will play in the semifinals on Sunday, March 5th at 4:30pm against Siena/Fairfield.
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By Jake Martino and Camdyn Ames
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