LANSING, Mich. – A suffocating defensive effort coupled with a balanced night offensively resulted in a 79-64 road victory for the No. 11 Macomb Men's Basketball team at Lansing Community College on Wednesday (Dec. 3). 

Despite being shorthanded without the services of leading scorer and redshirt sophomore forward, Lajuan Holloway, the Monarchs pulled away in the second half to earn their third consecutive win to improve to 5-3 on the season. 

A defensive grind for both teams in the opening half, the Monarchs were able to break free late to take a 32-26 edge into the locker room as Caron Williams led all scorers with eight over the first 20 minutes of action.

The Monarchs' offense came alive in the second half as the Blue & White outscored the host Stars, 47-38, to earn the win behind 15 second half points from Malachi Irving. 

Irving's second half eruption resulted in a game-high 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting (2-of-2 3PM) while Williams followed with 19 points on an efficient 7-of-11 effort from the field (4-of-6 3PM). Irving and Williams hauled in nine rebounds each to lead the Monarchs on the glass.

Donald Wilburn tallied 12 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists, while Tabari Howard registered 10 points, eight rebounds and a team-best four assists. Simon Stockwell and Dante Wimberly accounted for eight and six points, respectively, to round of Wednesday's leaders.

The Monarchs led by as many as 20 points in the 15-point victory while shooting 30-of-62 from the field and 8-of-17 from 3-point range.

Stingy defense by the Monarchs held the high-octane Stars attack to under 70 points as the hosts suffered only their second loss in nine games this season.

The Monarchs will now travel to Mount Pleasant to take on the No. 25 Mid Michigan College Lakers on Saturday (Dec. 6). The game will tip at 3 p.m. from Morey Courts Recreation Center. Saturday's game with the Lakers will mark the fifth game against ranked competition for the Monarchs this season.