Upper Montclair, NJ - Senior guard Charles Ransom (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) scored 21 points, including six from the free throw line in overtime, as Ramapo College edged sixth-ranked Montclair State, 85-83 in a New Jersey Athletic Conference inter-divisional men's basketball contest at Panzer Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
Jared Milligan (Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland) added a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds while Amin Wright (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) had 15 points for the Roadrunners (4-2, 1-2 NJAC), who snapped a two-game losing streak and defeated the Red Hawks for the fourth time in the last five meetings.
Last season, Ramapo defeated MSU twice in the regular season, however, Montclair posted an 86-84 double-overtime victory in the NJAC Championship Game. The Roadrunners then defeated the Red Hawks, 89-80 in the NCAA Division III Sectional Semifinal (Sweet 16) at Wooster, Ohio. This is the only regular-season meeting between the teams as they play in opposite divisions in the new-look NJAC. Montclair is in the Blue Division, while Ramapo is in the Gold Division.
Junior forward
DUQUAN EVERETT (Orange, NJ/Orange) had a game-high 26 points and 18 rebounds for Montclair State (2-1, 0-1 NJAC), which was playing its first contest since November 22.
Montclair State trailed 79-77 with eight seconds left in regulation when off a missed free throw,
LAMONT NEWELL (Lodi, NJ/Dwight Murrow) drove the length of the floor and scored on a layup as the buzzer sounded to forced the extra period. It was the seventh tie of the contest.
In the extra session, Ransom, the 2003 NJAC Player of the Year, went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe as he accounted for all of the Roadrunners points. He hit two free throws 20 seconds into overtime to put Ramapo ahead and extended the lead to 83-79 with 4:19 remaining with two more. Montclair State cut the lead to 83-81 on a
GIAN PAUL GONZALEZ (North Haledon, NJ/Manchester Regional) jumper. Ransom and Newell then traded fouls shots to make the score 85-83 with 2:51 to play. The teams then missed the next five shots in the game and the Red Hawks had one last possession. But Everett missed a short jumper and after a rebound with 1.4 remaining, Everett's second attempt fell short.
Antoine Pryor (Elizabeth, NJ/St. Patrick) had 10 points for Ramapo while center Greg McBain (Waldwick, NJ/Waldwick) had 10 rebounds and five assists. Newell finished with 19 points and six assists for MSU with Gonzalez adding 14 points and eight rebounds.
