Men's Basketball | 12/29/2012 10:33:00 PM

Box Score STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The Methodist men's basketball team had six players reach double figures in scoring and held a 50-36 edge on the boards in defeating SUNY Institute of Technology, 86-71 on Friday evening at the CSI Tournament of Heroes.
 
A three-pointer by B.J. Esquerra on the Monarchs' (2-6) first possession gave Methodist an early 3-0 lead that it would never relinquish in winning its second game of the season. Esquerra hit another triple at the 9:10 mark of the first half to give the Monarchs a 24-13 lead as MU appeared ready to run away with the contest.
 
However, SUNYIT's Desmian Greer nailed a three pointer at the 5:04 mark to trim the Monarchs' lead to just two points (26-24) before the Green and Gold used a 13-2 scoring run, capped by a layup by Bryan Hockaday at the 2:11 mark to take its largest lead of the half, 13 points (39-26), en route to a seven-point lead (41-34) at the break.

In the second half, SUNYIT managed to trim its deficit to as little as six points (55-49) with 12:56 to play before MU pushed back out to an 11-point lead on Esguerra's third shot from beyond the arc followed by a jumper by Christian McRae at the 12:11 mark. The Monarchs would lead by double digits the rest of the way in cruising to the win.

For the Monarchs, Brandon Monk led the way with a career-best 18 points and Desmond Parker and Keemon Ingram added 12 points apiece. McRae chipped in with 11 off the bench and Hockaday and Kyle Combs each netted 10. Hockaday also grabbed 10 boards and Parker added four steals and a pair of blocks.

For SUNYIT, Greer scored a game-high 26 on 8-of-16 shooting, including 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. T'Andre Richardson totaled 21 points and Ryan James added 10 points. Both James and Richardson grabbed eight rebounds as well.

The Monarchs will now square off with host CSI on Saturday at 3:00 pm in the championship game of the 11th annual CSI Tournament of Heroes.