Newark, NJ – Sophomore forward Jermont Horton had all 12 of his points in the second half and junior guard Justin Carter netted eight of his team-high 13 points after intermission as No. 4 Rutgers-Newark rallied for a 56-48 win over No. 5 Montclair State in the opening round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Tournament in The Golden Dome.
The fourth-seeded Scarlet Raiders (17-9) battled back from a horrific start to earn a bus trip to top-seeded Ramapo on Wednesday in the semifinal round. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. in the Bradley Center.
After Red Hawk junior forward
QUENTIN DEMERITTE, who finished with nine points, banked in a spinning bank shot for a 47-39 MSU lead with 5:54 left, Horton and Carter went on a personal 16-1 run over the next 5:17. The Red Hawks (13-12) got only a free throw from sophomore forward
CLIFF SCHAFER in the final minutes.
Horton poured in 10 points, including a jumper with 4:18 left to give the Raiders their first lead of the game at 48-47 and a 3-point jumper from the left corner with 54 seconds remaining which upped the Rutgers-Newark lead to 53-48. Carter, who dropped in four of four free throws during the run, iced the game with a steal and dunk with 37 ticks left. Senior guard Manny Rios , who hauled down nine rebounds and tied Carter with the game high of three steals, made one of two free throws with 25 seconds left to end the scoring.
Junior forward
GIAN PAUL GONZALEZ had eight of his game-high 14 points in the first half as Montclair State shot a sizzling 54.5% (12-22) from the floor to forge a 29-19 lead. Meanwhile, Rutgers-Newark got only a pair of 3-point jumpers from senior guard Rasheen Blackwell in the opening 10 minutes to fall behind 12-6.
A conventional 3-point play by Demeritte upped the Red Hawk lead to 25-10 with 2:48 left in the half before Carter netted seven points in a 9-4 run to close the period.
Senior forward
MICHAEL GLUCK posted 10 points and five rebounds for MSU while freshman guard
ANTHONY LARKIN came off the bench for eight points. Gonzalez led the Red Hawks with seven rebounds.
Freshman reserve guard Angel Collado came off the Raider bench to hit four of five shots and finished with nine points while junior center Chinedu Ibeh contributed eight points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
The loss will now leave MSU waiting to see if they are one of the eight teams selected for the ECAC Metro TOurnament, which begins on Wednesday, March 2. Bids will be announced on Monday, February 28.
