Montclair, NJ - Junior guard AKBAR HOFFMAN matched his season-high with 31 points as Montclair State held off a second-half comeback by New Jersey City in an 81-76 win at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.

Sophomore guard MYLES MITCHELL-WHITE added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Red Hawks nearly squandered an 18-point lead in the second half, instead recovering in time to post their third straight victory. MSU is now 8-1 overall, 4-0 in the NJAC. Sam Toney finished with 20 points for the Gothic Knights (6-3, 2-2 NJAC).

Montclair State led 49-33 at halftime thanks in part to a solid shooting effort. The Red Hawks connected on 17-of-34 attempts from the field including 6-of-10 from behind the arc. MSU also held a huge advantage on the boards 27-16.

A tight contest through the first eight minutes, Montclair led by three points before going on a 10-0 run that produced a 28-15 lead after Mitchell-White scored on a layup with 8:58 remaining. His three-point play pushed the lead to 34-20 with over five minutes to go and a three by Hoffman with 1:46 left pushed the advantage to 47-31.

Montclair State led 49-33 at the break and scored the first field goal of the second half to build its 18-point lead before the Gothic Knights mounted their rally. The Red Hawks led 60-43 after an IRVING CALLENDER IV three-pointer but NJCU countered with a 16-2 run, pulling within 62-59 on a Yuri Brutus jumper with 8:48 remaining.

Toney hit three times from the line 48 seconds later making the score 64-62 however Emedoh answered at the other end bumping the lead to four points. Brutus got the score to 69-68 on a short jumper. Hoffman made one from the line and Mitchell-White drove in for a layup giving MSU a 72-68 lead with 5:37 remaining.

NJCU pulled within a point one more time at 73-72 as Toney hit from short range. Hoffman answered with a huge three-pointer and his jumper with 2:08 to play put the Red Hawks up 78-72. Chika

Wosu netted four straight cutting the MSU lead to 78-76 however Hoffman came up big one more time with a jumper in the paint with 55 seconds left. Mitchell-White would make one free throw with 30 seconds left for the final margin.

Callender finished with 12 points for Montclair State, which got 10 rebounds from JALEN PARHAM. Emedoh added 10 points and three rebounds. 

Montclair State is back in action on Saturday, December 8 at The College of New Jersey for a 3:00 pm matchup with the Lions in Packer Hall.