Jersey City, NJ -Sophomore forward
GIAN PAUL GONZALEZ (North Haledon, NJ/Manchester Regional) recorded a double-double with 27 points and 12 rebounds as Montclair State upset first-place New Jersey City University, 90-80, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference Blue Division matchup on Wednesday evening.
Guard George Tejada (Hackensack, NJ/Fort Lee) also had a season-high 27 points as the Red Hawks (11-7, 4-5 NJAC) won their second straight and fourth time in their last five games. The win was also the 100th victory at MSU for head coach Ted Fiore, who also earned career victory No. 250 last Saturday at Rutgers-Newark. Fiore is now 100-54 at Montclair State, becoming the fifth coach in Red Hawk men's basketball history to achieve the century mark in wins. Fiore is also 251-164 overall in his 13 seasons as a head coach.
Mark Washington (East Orange, NJ/West Side) had 18 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and seven assists for NJCU (16-5, 7-2 NJAC), which had its two-game winning streak snapped and lost for just the third time in its last nine games. NJCU was seeking to clinch the Blue Division and a No. 1 seed in the NJAC Tournament later this month.
The Red Hawks trailed 36-34 at halftime and were behind 58-56 with just under nine minutes to play before
LAMONT NEWELL (Lodi, NJ/Dwight Murrow) tied the game with a pair of free throws. That ignited a 7-0 run as MSU took the lead for good. Tejada put Montclair in front with a layup and Anwar Montgomery (Scotch Plains, NJ/SP-Fanwood) added two free throws for a 62-58 advantage. Gonzalez would add two foul shots and then converted a three-point play for a 67-58 lead with 6:58 to go.
A fast-break finish by Tejada put the Red Hawks up by double-digits (73-63) with 4:49 to go, but NJCU would get within 75-68 with 3:44 left as Kareem Collins (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) buried a three-pointer. However,
KEITH DUNCAN (Rahway, NJ/Clifford Scott) scored on a layup and Tejada finished off another break to give Montclair State a 79-69 lead with 2:17 left. The MSU lead reached its largest at 13 as
TOM SCHAFER (Califon, NJ/Voorhees) scored on a layup to make the score 84-71 with 1:13 to play. Montclair State then closed out the game by making 6-of-6 from the free throw line – two by
MICHAEL DAVIS (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City) and the final four from Gonzalez.
Davis finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for MSU, which got eight points from Montgomery. Newell added six points and eight rebounds as the Red Hawks shot 56 percent from the field (32-of-56) in the contest and made 22-of-26 (85 percent) at the free throw line. Gonzalez went 11-of-11 as he tied an MSU single-game record for free-throw percentage in a game.
Alex Mirabel (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) had 17 points while Collins added 15 for the Gothic Knights, who placed four players in double figures. NJCU, which also got 12 points from Samar Battle (East Orange, NJ/Clifford Scott), shot just 36 percent from the field (29-of-79), including 5-of-27 from three-point range. The Gothic Knights also struggled from the free throw line connecting on just 17-of-34 (50 percent) attempts at the charity stripe.
Montclair State will begin a three-game homestand over the next week. The Red Hawks will host Staten Island on Saturday, February 7 at 2:00 pm. The following day at 2:00 pm, MSU will face Lehman College in their NJAC/CUNYAC Challenge game. Montclair completes the homestand on Wednesday, February 11 when it hosts The College of New Jersey at 8:00 pm. Earlier this season, TCNJ defeated the Red Hawks, 73-63 in Ewing.
