Galloway, NJ – The Montclair State men's basketball team saw its run in the NJAC Championship come to an end on Thursday in the semifinals as the fourth-seeded Red Hawks fell at top-seeded Stockton, 92-78.
DJ Campbell scored 28 points with Kadian Dawkins adding 20 as the Ospreys (23-4) advanced to the championship game on Saturday where they will host second-seeded Rowan or third-seeded Rutgers-Newark.
Freshman guard
MIKE JACKSON led the Red Hawks with 22 points.
STEVEN BREEMAN and
DEVIN COOPER each netted 14 for MSU, which ended its season at 14-10 while making their second consecutive trip to the conference semifinals.
Montclair grabbed an early 3-2 lead at Irving Callender connected from behind the arc. Stockton went on a 20-7 run over the next five minutes to take control as the Ospreys went 8-of-10 from the field during the stretch, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Campbell scored eight wit Dawkins collecting five.
Dawkins ignited the run with layup and, after Callender's layup, Campbell drained a three for a 8-5 advantage. Jordan Williams hit from long range extending the lead to 13-7. Jonathan Azoroh scored four straight to make the score 17-10 with Campbell getting the last four as Stockton led 22-10 with 14:52 to play.
Campbell and Williams had 18 and 11 points, respectively in the first 20 minutes allowing Stockton to build a 54-29 lead at the break. The Ospreys shot 58 percent (21-of-36) from the field in the first 20 minutes. Dawkins had nine with Azoroh chipping in with six points.
In the second half, Montclair State was able to trim that deficit back to 55-40 on a Jackson three-pointer with 17:26 to go. However, Stockton answered with seven in a row – a three by Campbell, a jumper by Dawkins and two free throws by Kyion Flanders, restoring the lead back to 62-40 with 16:04 to play.
AMARI MILLS had 12 points and four rebounds with Callender totaling 11 points and seven rebounds in his final game with MSU. Breeman led the way for Montclair with eight rebounds while Cooper handed our six assists.
