Upper Montclair, NJ - Freshman guard
PIERRE MITCHELL (Newark, NJ/East Side) scored 13 points off the bench, including three from behind the arc, as Montclair State topped Rutgers-Newark, 67-46 in New Jersey Athletic Conference Men's Basketball action at Panzer Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
Freshman forward
ANTWAN DOZIER (Pleasantville, NJ/Pleasantville) added 12 points and nine rebounds as the Red Hawks (15-2, 9-2 NJAC) swept the season series from the Scarlet Raiders (6-11, 1-10 NJAC), who have lost seven straight. Montclair State won the first meeting back on November 26th, 72-51, behind 17 points from Dozier. Ronnie Melendez (West New York, NJ/Memorial) and Adam Pinkney (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson County Prep) led the way for Rutgers-Newark with nine points each.
Melendez gave the Scarlet Raiders their only lead of the game as he scored on a layup two minutes into the contest. But the Red Hawks scored the next 10 points as
MICHAEL GLUCK (Union, NJ/Union) and Dozier combined to hit three free throws while
MICHAEL DAVIS (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City) and
JOSEPH THOMAS (Linden, NJ/Linden) each had a basket.
BEN MARTINEZ (Scotch Plains, NJ/SP-Fanwood) then capped the run with a three-pointer from the left side to give MSU an eight-point advantage with 13:45 to play in the opening period. MSU led by as many as 13 points as Dozier scored on a layup for a 26-13 lead with 6:03 remaining as the Red Hawks to a 34-25 lead at intermission.
In the second half, Semone Morant (Willingboro, NJ/Willingboro) hit a layup to bring Rutgers-Newark within seven at 34-27, but that would be as close as the Scarlet Raiders would get the remainder of the game. Thomas' three-pointer gave MSU a 37-27 lead and a layup by Mitchell with 12:16 left in the game made the score 49-33 in favor of Montclair.
Thomas finished with nine points, six rebounds and five steals for the Red Hawks, who shot just 36 percent (22-of-61) from the field, 6-of-23 from beyond the arc, and were outrebounded, 43-40 in the game. The Red Hawks made up for their floor shooting woes by sinking 17-of-20 attempts at the free throw line, including 6-of-8 by Dozier.
Chinedu Ibeh (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) had eight points and seven rebounds for Rutgers-Newark. The Scarlet Raiders also suffered from dismal shooting going 17-of-54 (31 percent) from the field, including 2-of-10 from three points range.
