'That was my best friend': With heavy heart, Monmouth's Jakari Spence hits winning shot
WEST LONG BRANCH – It was with a heavy heart that Monmouth senior guard Jakari Spence took the court Sunday at OceanFirst Bank Center, having spent this week in Oklahoma attending attending the funeral of his grandmother, Cleo Spence.
But it all ended with the greatest tribute imaginable.
Spence took a pass from Jaret Valencia after a steal with four seconds to play in a game tied at 71-all, streaked downcourt and launched a shot from just beyond the 3-point line as time expired, with the ball banking in to give the Hawks a 74-71 victory.
The former Toms River North standout’s heroics were made possible by a furious comeback, as Monmouth trailed by 19 points in the first half, and still trailed by nine points with eight minutes to play.
Monmouth's Jakari Spence: 'Family is everything. That was my best friend.'
“My dad is from the South, so family is everything. That’s how I grew up, being at my nanna’s house and everything. That was my best friend,” Spence said. “So for her to be taken away from me is hard. But God has got a plan and we keep pushing and following that path.”
The win snaps a two-game skid for Monmouth (5-4), adding another good win to a resume that includes a high-major score at West Virginia and a victory over a Belmont team that hasn’t lost since falling to Monmouth.
“Monmouth got a blessing today by getting a game-winner from this young fellow,” Monmouth coach King Rice said. “He hasn’t been at practice - I swear grandma took care of him today.
“I’m just happy for him that in this hard time for his family they get to celebrate an incredible win that their son, grandson hit the final shot.”
Graduate guard Xander Rice, who finished with 14 points, connected on a 3-pointer with 1:02 to play to pull Monmouth even at 69-69. But the Huskies scored on their next possession, getting tough baseline floater from Xavier Amos to get the lead back with 41 seconds left. Then Monmouth center Nikita Konstantnyovskyi went to the free throw line with 19.2 seconds left and hit both free throws to tie the game.
That set up the final heroics, as Monmouth got a defensive stop at one end on a steal by Valencia. The ball ended up in Spence’s hands as he raced downcourt, letting the ball fly with less than a second on the clock from just beyond the 3-point line.
“Your happy that your kids stayed engaged, kept fighting,” King Rice said. “I knew they could punch us in the face. I knew it just watching. That’s all I talked about and I said, ‘when they punch you in the face, just keep playing. Don’t let it get you all out of control because they are coming. Continue to run our stuff and we will have success on offense.’ “
Konstantnyovskyi led Monmouth with 16 points, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Spence finished with nine points and three assists.
Monmouth travels to Newark Tuesday night (6:30 p.m.) to face Seton Hall at the Prudential Center.
Nutter and Xavier Amos led Northern Illinois (5-4) with 21 points apiece, while David Coit, another New Jersey native, added 15 points.
Igniting a comeback
Monmouth was down nine points with less than eight minutes to play, when freshman Abdi Bashir Jr. hit three 3-pointers during the final rally to spark the comeback, as the Hawks used a 15-3 run to take a 66-63 lead with 3:51 remaining, It started when Bashir drained a triple coming out of the under eight-minute media timeout, with King Rice setting up a play and Bashir hitting the shot.
“Abdi is one of the best shooters, and I played with Hubert Davis and some really good ones. This kid makes shots all day long all the time,” King Rice said. “I got a little upset with him. We had some things happen this week with school. We need these young dudes to grow up and understand we’re not just doing hoop here.”
Northern Illinois, which has a win over DePaul this season, would score six straight points, with Nutter, a New Jersey native who played at the Patrick School, scoring on a drive in transition, and then hitting a pair of free throws to cap a 6-0 run to regain the lead a 69-66.
Hall of Famer Bob Hurley in the house
Naismith Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, who coached both Xander Rice and third-year Northern Illinois head coach Rashon Burno at St. Anthony, was in attendance. Hurley has become close with the Rice family during their 13 years in New Jersey.
“The way Mr. and Mrs. Hurley have treated my family is outstanding,” King Rice said. “When Xander had a chance to decide to come back home he called Mr. Hurley first, and he gave advice that it was easy, no-brainer and that really impacted Xander.
“Mr. Hurley has been so good to me since I’ve been in New Jersey, and if you remember back, me and Bobby (Hurley) used to get in fist fights (in college). “
Pregame:
Monmouth basketball vs. Northern Illinois: As Jaret Valencia rises, 3 keys for Hawks
WEST LONG BRANCH - With roughly a quarter of the college basketball season done, it’s clear Monmouth’s better. Significantly better, and it's easy to quantify. The Hawks final NET ranking last season was 353 out of 362 teams, and they were 140 when the first NET was unveiled this season.
Now, as the Hawks (4-4) come out of a nine-day break after a hard-fought 91-87 loss at Ivy League contender Cornell, the question is how good can this young team be?
A .500 record, after going 7-26 a year ago? Or perhaps a Coastal Athletic Association contender?
It all makes Saturday’s game at OceanFirst Bank Center (2 p.m./SNY; NBC Sports Philadelphia; FloSports.com) against Northern Illinois (5-3), which comes in at 110 in the NET, an important measuring stick, the first in a series of tests that will provide a more accurate gauge of what heights the Hawks might be capable of in the coming months.
It continues Tuesday night against Seton Hall at the Prudential Center in Newark, before winnable home games against Rider, which got its first Division I win Friday night, and Manhattan, and a non-conference closing New Year’s Eve game at Oklahoma.
If Monmouth can knock off Northern Illinois and go 3-2 in its final five games before CAA play begins, that’s a 7-6 early-season record, quite an accomplishment given the difficulty of the schedule. And a good sign when conference play begins Jan. 4 with a visit from Towson.
Northern Illinois comes in off back-to-back 20-plus point losses to Northwestern and Indiana State, after beating DePaul.
Here are three keys for Monmouth as it returns to the court Saturday against Northern Illinois:
1. Rookies on the rise
While Monmouth’s dropped two straight, the bright spot from those losses, and it shone like a spotlight, was the glimpse into the future redshirt freshman Jaret Valencia provided. The 6-9 forward followed up a career-high 16-point effort against Penn with 19 against Cornell. He went 14-of-18 from the floor in those games, while averaging 5.5 rebounds and 30 minutes.
Be it that slam in transition against Lehigh or that dunk finishing off an offensive rebound against Belmont, who else during coach King Rice’s tenure could have pulled those moves off, much less as easily as Valencia made them look? Maybe Melik Martin? Not many, and it’s that kind of young talent, along with sharpshooting guard Abdi Bashir Jr. and forward Cornelius Robinson Jr., both freshmen, that can push the program forward.
2. Turn up the defensive intensity
Since Monmouth turned in a good defensive effort against Lafayette, the Hawks have given up 76 points to Penn and 91 to Cornell. And the Northern Illinois starting lineup has the ability to score, with four averaging in double figures. Leading the way is junior guard David Coit, a second-team Preseason All-MAC selection averaging 18.8 points, with 24 triples, and 32 assists, all team highs.
A glaring weakness has been on the perimeter, where Monmouth ranks 259th in 3-point percentage defense.
3. Protect the house
Playing well on campus this season has to be a calling card for this team if it has any hope of making a significant rise in the CAA standings. This is the first of three winnable games at home before league play begins, and building momentum is critical.
The Hawks hung tough with Princeton for 30-plus minutes before getting overrun by the still-unbeaten Tigers, and played well in dispatching Lehigh in their last home game.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth stuns Northern Illinois on Toms River's Jakari Spence winner
