Montclair, NJ - Junior forward Jermont Horton scored18 of his 27 points in the second half as Rutgers-Newark torched the nets in the second half and defeated Montclair State, 71-59in New Jersey Athletic Conference Men's Basketball action at Panzer Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Justin Carter added 17points for the Scarlet Raiders (15-4, 8-4 NJAC), who moved into a tie for first-place in the conference with their sixth straightwin. Rutgers-Newark, which trailed by 11 points at halftime, alsos wept the season series from the Red Hawks and has captured four straight from MSU.
JONATHAN ARTHUR had 16 points and nine rebounds for Montclair State(9-10, 5-7), which played without star forward
GIAN PAUL GONZALEZ. Gonzalez, the nation's No.4 scorer, sat out the game with a sore shoulder suffered on Wednesday evening. The Scarlet Raiders struggled from the field in the first half, making just 10-of-30 attempts and fell behind 34-23. However,Rutgers-Newark would turn things around quickly as the hit on 19-of-27attempts from the field in the second half, scoring 48 points.
The Raiders made the deficit evaporate in the first 3:40 with a 13-2 run. Horton started off the spurt with a layup and after basket by MSU's Jama lFord, Rutgers-Newark scored the next 11 points. Horton had four and Carter five, the latter tying the game at 36-36 on a layup with 16:20 to play.
Montclair State would quickly answer as
MAURICE TORRES hit a three and
ERIC SYLVESTER connected on a hook to make the score, 41-36. The Scarlet Raiders countered with an 11-2 run to take a 47-43 lead as Phillippe Slater made a conventional three-point play with 12:59 to go.
The Red Hawks would tie the game as Arthur hit, knotting the score at 49-49, but Rutgers-Newark took control scoring 11 of the game's next 12 points to go up 60-50with 8:31 left. Ryan Gillens got it all started with a layup and he later added a jumper before Horton capped it all off with a jumper at 7:33. Montclair State would get as close at 65-57 on a Sylvester basket. However Horton and Stephen Taylor connected for the Scarlet Raiders boosting the lead back to 12 point with 1:44 remaining.
Carter added five rebounds,six assists and four steals for Rutgers-Newark, which finished the game 29-of-57 from the floor (51 percent). Chadd Barnes,Taylor and Slater each finished with six apiece. Slater also handed out five assists.
Torres and Ford each had 13points for MSU while Sylvester had a career-high 11 to go along with four rebounds. Ford had six assists for MSU, which committed21 turnovers in the game, 12 in the second half.
Montclair State returns to action on Wednesday, February 1 as the Red Hawks go on the road to faceRamapo College in Mahwah at 7:30 pm. Rutgers-Newark host William Paterson at the same time.
