Monmouth Men’s Basketball Tops Stella Azzurra, 78-54 in Rome – Monmouth University Athletics

Rome, Italy – Monmouth University Men’s Basketball opened its 2024 Foreign Tour with a dominant 78-54 victory over Stella Azzurra Saturday evening in Rome. Sophomore Abdi Bashir and freshman Justin Ray tied for the team lead with 18 points each, while sophomore Andrew Ball totaled a double-double.
 
Monmouth opened the game on a 12-0 run and never looked back, using four first-half triples from Bashir along with 10 first-half points from Ray to lead 39-31 at the break. That lead expanded after three, with Ball converting five points in the period to take a 54-45 lead into the fourth. MU closed strong, winning the fourth quarter 24-9 to win it 78-54.
 
Notes and Quotes
 
“This has been incredible. It means so much for our kids to have this opportunity. The people at Stella Azzurra treated us extremely well, our kids got going a little bit and that’s why we were able to win.” – King Rice on the win
 
“It’s a new role for Abdi. He came in as a freshman and got everyone excited, and now I’m excited about what he’s going to get to this year. Justin Ray can just score the ball, he’s a natural scorer and he’s only a freshman but he can score at all three levels. The part that I’ve loved so far is that he plays hard on defense and can guard.” – Rice on Bashir and Ray
 
“To play with the guys for the first time was a good experience. I was just playing free, confident and loose, I put in a lot of work and I was trusting my teammates, they got me shots and they fell. We have a lot of new faces so I want to get used to playing with everybody. For me, the Vatican was the best part of the trip so far, I’m just soaking it all in and I’m happy to be here.” – Abdi Bashir
 
–Justin Ray and Abdi Bashir led Monmouth with 18 points apiece
–Andrew Ball had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds
-Three Hawks had double-digit rebounds, with Ball joining Cornelius Robinson (12) and Jaret Valencia (11)
–Jack Leahy converted MU’s only three-point play in the second quarter
-Nine different Hawks scored in the game
-The game was played under FIBA rules with four 10-minute quarters and a 24-second shot clock
-This marked MU’s first game on foreign soil since 2015, when MU went 2-1 in China
 
Monmouth Statistics
Valencia: 8 points, 11 rebounds
Bashir: 18 points, 5 3’s
Durr: 6 points, 3 rebounds
Ball: 11 points, 10 rebounds
Miller: 2 points, 1 rebound
Leahy: 2 points, 3 rebounds
Ray: 18 points, 3 rebounds
Collins: 5 points, 1 rebound
Orchard: 7 rebounds
Robinson: 7 points, 12 rebounds
Fagan: 1 rebound
Peters: 1 rebound
 
Up Next
-Monmouth takes on the Pino Dragons at 6:30 p.m. (12:30 Eastern) on Monday, June 24 in Florence.