Montclair, NJ – Sophomore guards
IRVING CALLENDER IV and
JOSEPH RADI combined for 26 points off the bench as Montclair State clinched a first-round home game in the upcoming NJAC Tournament with a 73-37 win over Rutgers-Camden at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.
Senior
JAHVAN ROSBIA had 10 points with classmate
JORDAN ROBERSON adding nine along with 12 rebounds as the Red Hawks won their second straight and finished the regular season at 16-9 overall. Montclair ended in a three-way tie with Ramapo and William Paterson for third place at 11-7 in conference play. The Red Hawks by virtue of their 3-1 record against the Roadrunners and Pioneers this season, earned the No. 3 seed for the conference tournament. MSU will host sixth-seeded The College of New Jersey on Saturday, February 16 at 1:00 pm.
Montclair stormed out the gate scoring the first nine points of the game.
MYLES MITCHELL-WHITE hit a jumper and Roberson added a layup a minute later for a 4-0 lead. Robsia drained a three with 17:01 left with Roberson finishing off the break on the next possession for the 9-0 advantage with 16:34 remaining.
After Rutgers-Camden got on the board, the Red Hawks went on a 12-point run starting with a three by Radi with a layup by Callender making the score 14-3.
EDDIE EMEDOH added bucket off a second-chance opportunity and Mitchell-White hit from short range with 12:38 to go before Radi capped the run with another three for a 21-3 lead.
MSU then held the Raptors scoreless over the final 10:26 of the opening half and closed it out with another 12-0 run. Roberson,
JUSTIN PORTER and
JALEN PARHAM each had field goals with Radi and Callender draining three-pointers as Montclair State led 35-7 at the break.
Montclair State shot 15-of-31 from the field in the first half while holding Rutgers-Camden to just 3-of-28 from the field including 1-of-10 from three-point range.
The Red Hawks had 12 different players reach the scoring column. Callender had a double-double grabbing 11 rebounds. Peter Obertan Jr. and
MALACHI SMYTHE recorded four points and six rebounds apiece. Montclair enjoyed a massive advantage on the boards, outrebounding Rutgers-Camden 61-22. Twenty-two of them came on the offensive glass producing 22 second-chance points.
