Box Score Hackettstown, NJ – Junior guard
KEYON PRYCE scored a career-high 28 points while
IRVING CALLENDER IV posted a double-double of career-bests 22 points and 15 rebounds as Montclair State held off a late second-half rally by Centenary University for a 107-104 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Hawks (3-1) captured their second straight contest as six players finished in double figures. Montclair also scored over 100 points for the second consecutive game, a feat last accomplished during the 2013-14 campaign when it defeated Vaughn (104-61) and Berkley (100-73) in the Team Hill Holiday Classic.
STEVEN BREEMAN finished with 15 points while
DEVIN COOPER and
KYREE HENRY each added 12.
GREG ECK totaled 11 along with five rebounds off the bench as MSU led by nine at halftime, 54-45. Montclair improved to 11-0 all-time against the Cyclones. The teams were meeting for the first time in eight years and for the first time in Hackettstown since an 87-64 win by the Red Hawks in November 2011.
Cooper hit a three-point to start the game giving Montclair State a lead it would never relinquish. That lead grew to 16-9 with 14:30 remaining as Eck connected from behind the arc igniting a 15-0 run, all 15 points coming by way of the three-pointer. Pryce had three of those, including the last with 12:49 to go as MSU built a 28-9 advantage.
Harrison Lucibello connected on a jumper for the Cyclones cutting the deficit to 28-20 with just under 10 minutes left and D'Angelo Blackmond whittled it down to 41-37 with 3:40 remaining. Henry answered that with a three-pointer and a layup by Breeman with 89 seconds to go boosted the lead back to 51-41. Callender's foul shots with 33 seconds pushed the lead to 12 points before LaBelle's three for Centenary sent Montclair into the break with a 54-45 advantage.
In the second half, the Red Hawks were able to double that nine-point halftime lead with a Breeman three-point play making the score 65-47 two minutes in. Lucibello's three cut the deficit to 70-64 five minutes later, however Montclair State got the lead back to 83-68 on a Pryce three with under 10 minutes left.
MSU would keep the lead in double-digits until late when the Cyclones made their run and closed to within 103-100 with 56 seconds left when Blackmond made two at the line.
FRANCISCO PAULINO countered with two foul shots for Montclair, but Centenary hung around as LaBelle's three pulled the hosts within 105-103 inside 20 seconds. Cooper then made two important free throws with eight seconds left making it a four-point game. That proved big as Blackmond connected from behind the arc at the buzzer for the final margin.
Breeman added six rebounds while Erck grabbed five.
KIERAN FLANAGAN (four steals) handed out six assists with Breeman and Cooper totaling four apiece.
The Red Hawks are back in action on Tuesday, November 23 with their first New Jersey Athletic Conference contest of the year. MSU is in Union, NJ to take on Kean University with tip off in Harwood Arena scheduled for 8:00 pm.
