Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State men's basketball team struggled from the field in the second half and were held to 15 points over the final 20 minutes in a 49-41 loss to Rutgers-Newark at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday.

Senior BRANDON CHANNER posted a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds however the Red Hawks fell to 9-8 overall, 6-4 in the NJAC with the loss.

Mark Thomas and Landon Gaines had 15 and 13 points respectively for Rutgers-Newark (5-13, 4-7 NJAC), which snapped a seven-game losing streak in sweeping the season series with MSU. The Raiders have captured the last 12 meetings between the teams.

Channer had 12 in the first half when Montclair built a 10-point lead however the Raiders closed the gap to six as Chase Barneys nailed a three point before the halftime buzzer bringing Rutgers-Newark within 26-20.

But the Red Hawks couldn't get things going offensively in the second half making just 3-of-25 attempts from the floor and misfired on all eight of its attempts from three-point range.  Seven consecutive points to open the second put the Raiders up 27-26 but Channer hit one from the line and EDDIE EMEDOH connected from short range for a 30-27 lead with 12:32 to go.

Montclair then went cold for the next four minutes going without a point while Rutgers-Newark went on a 9-0 run for a 36-30 advantage. JUSTIN PORTER snapped the drought with a pair of free throws cutting the lead back to 36-32.

???????Barneys drained another three to restore the Rutgers-Newark lead back to 39-32 and a three-point play by Thomas with 5:31 left gave the Raiders an eight-point bulge. MSU would get as close as five twice, the last coming with 28 seconds on a foul shot by JORDAN ROBERSON making the score 46-41.

Gaines countered with two from the line and Nadir Alston added a free throw with 17 seconds left for the final margin.

Roberson finished with six points and 13 rebounds for the Red Hawks, who shot 14-of-48 (29 percent) for the game, including 2-of-17 from behind the arc.

Montclair State will look to rebound on Wednesday, January 25 when it travels to Mahwah, NJ to face No. 13 Ramapo College at the Bradley Center beginning at 7:30 pm.