Pomona, NJ - Junior forward
GIAN PAUL GONZALEZ scored 22 points and freshman forward
AL HAWKINS added 21 as the Montclair State men's basketball team posted its seventh straight win with a 71-67 victory over Richard Stockton on Saturday afternoon.
LAMONT NEWELL, returning to the team after sitting out the first half of the season, had 15 points as the Red Hawks improved to 9-5 this season, 4-2 in the NJAC. Brian Hitlner had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Richard Stockton.
Montclair State fell behind from the opening tap, but quickly regained the lead as Hawkins scored the first five points for a 5-2 lead. Tied at 7-7 with 17:16 left in the half, MSU then went on a 24-6 run over the next eight minutes to build a 31-13 lead with just over nie minutes to play. Hawkins had 11 points in the spurt, including three three-pointers.
A jumper by Gonzalez gave Montclair at 37-15 lead with 6:07 to go before intermission, however, the Ospreys responded with an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to 37-26 with 2:44 remaining.
JAMAL FORD ended the run with a layup and Stockton had a chance to add another before halftime, but missed four attempts in the final 30 seconds as Montclair took a 39-28 lead into the locker room.
A 10-4 run by Richard Stockton to open the second half got the Ospreys within five as Jose Rodriguez scored on a layup to make the score 43-38 with 15:42 left. A three by Tobias Smith cut the lead even further, 49-46, however, Montclair answered as Newell hit a jumper and Gonzalez threw down a dunk to restore the lead to seven points.
Six times over the final nine minutes, Stockton would get within three points, but each time the Red Hawks had an answer. A basket by Marco Lancioni with 1:58 left made the score 68-65 but Gonzalez answered 17 seconds later. Hiltner added a layup to make the score 70-67 with 1:19 to go, but Newell closed out the game making a free throw with 18 seconds to go.
Hawkins, who was 5-of-6 from three-point range, added six rebounds while Gonzalez had five and two assists. Ford finished with seven points, three rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Smith had team-high 16 points for the Ospreys, who outrebounded MSU, 33-23. Both teams shot 50 percent in the game with MSU sinking 25-of-48 (52.1 percent) while Richard Stockton was 29-of-58.
The Red Hawks will look to extend their winning streak Wednesday, January 19 as they travel to Union to face Kean University in the second half of an NJAC men's and women's doubleheader. Tip-off is set for 8:00 pm.
