Monroe sophomore guard Colt Howard scored a career-high 28 points as the Hornets picked up a 59-53 win over the Edgewood Cougars on Friday night.
Howard said he was planning on scoring 28 points against the Cougars. Howard and sophomore Ty Perkins combined for 51 of Monroe’s 59 points.
“I’ve been trying to get my shot back,” Perkins said. “It started to fall tonight. The team had good energy, and Colt obviously had the game of his life.”
The Hornets were coming off a 63-47 loss to Oakwood, a game where they shot just 7 of 27 from 3-point range and were out-rebounded 33-23.
“We played awful. We couldn’t rebound and we couldn’t defend,” Perkins said. “We came in on Wednesday and Thursday knowing we wanted to beat Edgewood, and we got it done.”
Edgewood entered the game allowing just 39 points per game, but head coach Jason Osterman was disappointed with his team’s defensive effort.
“The story of the night is that we just couldn’t stop Perkins and Howard,” Osterman said.
“Those two were the entire game plan, and we let them get free too many times. They made shots — credit to them.”
Edgewood went on a 9-0 run to take a 34-28 lead, but Monroe responded with a 10-2 run late in the third quarter to regain momentum.
Hornets coach Casey Popplewell called a timeout to calm his team down.
“We told them we were going to be fine,” Popplewell said. “They’re tired just like we are. At the end of the third, we were up by two.”
Popplewell was also impressed with senior Bryant Lee, who finished with 10 rebounds and five steals.
“That’s a senior doing everything he can to help us win,” Popplewell said. “We’ve got two sophomores who can score, but he knows there are other things that need to get done.”
Monroe (4-1, 2-0 SWBL) will travel to the Butler County Bash on Saturday, Dec. 20, to play Cincinnati Christian, while Edgewood (3-1, 1-1 SWBL) will host Mount Healthy on Tuesday, Dec. 16.
