Montclair, NJ – Junior guard Cory Gilmore (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) scored 17 points as The College of New Jersey used a second-half run and some clutch shots as the Lions knocked off Montclair State, 65-54 in NJAC Men's Basketball inter-divisional action at Panzer Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Brian Halligan (Delran, NJ/Delran) and junior forward Mark Aziz (Hackettstown, NJ/West Morris) each had 14 points as the Lions snapped a two-game losing streak and moved to 5-4 on the season, 2-1 in the NJAC's South Division.
Junior forward
JONATHAN ARTHUR (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) had 18 points and nine rebounds for Montclair State, which suffered its second straight loss and fell to 3-5 on the year, 1-2 in the league's North Division.
The Red Hawks led 29-27 at halftime and built a seven-point lead on two occasions, the final one coming with 12:29 left as freshman
JOHN BYRNE (East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick) connected from three-point range to give MSU a 42-35 lead. But the Lions answered with a 12-point run to take the lead for good. Gilmore started the streak with two free throws and Matt Bramley (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) hit a three to pull the Lions within 42-40. Gilmore tied the game with a shot jumper and Bramley's second three with 7:28 to play gave New Jersey the lead before Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) capped the run with a jumper as TCNJ built a 47-42 lead with six minutes left.
Arthur would score on a layup to pull MSU within 49-47, but Halligan hit from behind the arc and Frank followed with another as the Lions restored the lead to 55-47 with 1:49 to go. Gilmore then went 4-of-4 at the free throw line to put the lead into double-digits.
Halligan grabbed seven rebounds for the Lions, who shot 59 percent (10-of-17) in the second half and went 14-of-17 (82 percent) from the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes. TCNJ finished the game shooting 21-of-44 from the floor (48 percent) and 17-of-20 from the foul line. Frank added nine points while Adam Gonzalez (Rochelle Park, NJ/Hackensack) had five rebounds.
Byrne finished with 15 points for Montclair State, which struggled in the second half from the field. The Red Hawks were 10-of-31 from the floor (32 percent) and finished the game 22-of-58 (38 percent), including 4-of-18 from behind the arc.
Montclair State returns to action on Thursday, December 14 as the Red Hawks take on the Scarlet Raptors of Rutgers-Camden in another NJAC contest scheduled for 7:00 pm. TCNJ returns to the court on December 17 as they travel to Allentown, PA to face Muhlenberg College in a 2:00 pm matchup.
