Hackettstown, NJ - Junior forward
DUQUAN EVERETT (Orange, NJ/Orange) scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed six rebounds as Montclair State won its third straight with a 66-63 victory over Centenary College on Monday evening.
LAMONT NEWELL (Lodi, NJ/Dwight Murrow) added 12 points for the Red Hawks (6-2) while
KEITH DUNCAN (Rahway, NJ/East Side (Newark)) contributed eight points and seven rebounds.
In the tightly-contested game that saw eight ties and several lead changes. Steve McNamara had 14 points for the Cyclones (1-7), who lost to Montclair, 94-50 in last year's MSU Tip-Off Tournament.
Centenary led by as many as eight in the second half as Bryan Sherlock scored on a layup to make the score 48-40 with 9:20 remaining. Sherlock then sank a three-pointer to give the Cyclones a 55-48 advantage with 5:38 left.
However, Montclair chipped away at the lead going on a 10-2 run over the next two-plus minutes to take its first lead since the early part of the second half. George Tejada (Hackensack, NJ/Fort Lee) began the run with a jumper and Everett scored to pull MSU within 55-53. After Kane Fitzgerald answered with two free throws, Everett scored four straight to tie the game at 57-57 with 4:25 left.
Anwar Montgomery (Scotch Plains, NJ/SP-Fanwood) put the Red Hawks in the lead with a free throw before Newell drained a three-pointer for a 61-57 Red Hawk lead with 3:15 to play.
Centenary climbed within 63-61 with 25 seconds to go a Kelvin Kennedy hit two foul shots, but Everett countered with three free throws to seal the win for the Red Hawks.
PIERRE MITCHELL (Newark, NJ/East Side) added nine points, three assists and four steals for Montclair State with Tejada adding seven points and four rebounds.
The Red Hawks continue their long road trip away from Panzer Gymnasium on Wednesday, January 7 as they travel to UMass-Dartmouth. MSU will then travel to York, PA for the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament. Montclair will take on Buffalo State in the opening round on January 9. It will be the second meeting between the two schools as MSU scored a 74-55 in the championship game of the MSU Tip-Off Tournament on November 22.
