Salnave leads a balanced Monmouth attack past Quinnipiac

WEST LONG RANCH, N.J. (AP) — Ray Salnave scored 14 points to lead five Monmouth players in double figures and the Hawks beat Quinnipiac 89-78 on Sunday.

Deion Hammond scored 12, and off the bench, Melik Martin and Louie Pillari scored 12 apiece and George Papas scored 10. The Hawks (16-11, 10-6 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) made 12 of 29 (41.4%) 3-pointers and distributed 21 assists and committed just eight turnovers.

Aaron Falzon scored 24 for Quinnipiac (12-14, 7-9), Rich Kelly scored 20 and Kevin Marfo grabbed 13 rebounds with eight coming on the offensive end.

Quinnipiac led 14-5 4-1/2 minutes in before the Hawks turned it around and use a 21-9 run and led 26-24 on Pillari’s 3 with 9:34 before halftime. Monmouth kept up the offensive pressure and led 50-36 at intermission. Salnave’s jumper with 14:55 left made it 63-43.