SALEM, Ore. - The Montclair State basketball team fell 114-104 to No. 20 Whitman College in the season-opener Friday night.
The Red Hawks took an early four-point lead at 20-16 after junior IRVING CALLENDER IV hit a jumper in the paint. The edge grew to seven at the 7:39 mark of the opening half, as KEYON PRICE hit senior AKBAR HOFFMAN for a triple. Whitman took over after, using a 17-2 spurt spanning nearly five minutes to take the lead for good.
A Hoffman layup 2:20 into the second stanza cut the lead down to a single possession, but MSU was unable to get any closer. The advantage grew to 15 with 8:06 left in the contest and went as high as 17 with a shade under six minutes left. Senior NATE NAHIRNY canned a three-pointer with 13 seconds left to shrink the score to single-digits, but the Blues hung on for the 10-point victory.
Hoffman paced the Red Hawks (0-1) with 21 points, while sophomore STEVE BREEMAN and seniors EDDIE EMEDOH and Nahirny chipped in 19 points each. Breeman added a team-high seven rebounds off the bench. JarodKirkley had a game-high 30 points for Whitman (1-0), who also got 25 points from Darne Duckett.
The Red Hawks return to action on Saturday, completing their West Coast swing when they face Willamette University at 8 p.m.
