Jersey City, NJ – The Montclair State men's basketball team took down NJCU 107-81 on Wednesday night, led by a 37-point performance from MIKE JACKSON.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (11-6, 6-4 NJAC) opened the contest with an early 10-7 advantage behind four points each from Jackson and KIERAN FLANAGAN. The Gothic Knights responded with seven-straight points to take a four point lead.
• Montclair embarked on a 24-6 scoring run to open up a 14-point lead at 34-20 with eight minutes remaining in the first half. Jackson scored 16 points during that stretch of five and a half minutes, and the Red Hawks connected on six three-point shots.
• NJCU bounced back with six straight and were able to cut the deficit down to as low as six during the remainder of the opening frame. Jackson scored his 1,000th career point on his sixth three point shot of the first half with 1:04 on the clock.
• The visitors opened the second half with the first five points, including another three from Jackson. NJCU was able to cut the deficit down to single digits on multiple occasions, but could not get closer than eight.
• Montclair quickly ballooned the lead to 16 with 13 minutes remaining on a 9-2 run capped off by a FRANCISCO PAULINO layup. The Red Hawks later increased the lead to 17 with under 11 on the clock on a three-point shot from SAMAR ABDULLAH.
• Jackson converted a layup at the 3:17 mark of the second half to give Montclair its largest lead of the contest at 28. The Red Hawks held a lead for over 37 minutes of game time.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Jackson finished the contest with a game-high 37 points, including 26 in the first half. The guard finished 13-17 from the field and 7-10 from beyond the arc. The 37 points and seven threes are both tied for seventh-most in a single game in program history. It fell five short of his career-high that he set on February 22, 2022 against Rowan.
• The guard also became the 27th student-athlete in program history to surpass 1,000 career points and the first since STEVEN BREEMAN on February 11, 2023.
• Abdullah's 20 points set a new career-high, topping his previous mark of 17 which he set on January 10 at Rowan. He has recorded double-figure scoring in each of Montclair's last three contests, with the most recent two coming in his first two starts of the campaign.
• Paulino was the third and final Red Hawk in double-figures with 10 points. Flanagan finished with nine points, nine assists, and six rebounds.
• The 107 points set a new season-high for the Red Hawks and the most in regulation since November 20, 2021.
• The Red Hawks hit 41 field goals in the contest, which is tied for fifth-most in a single game in program history and the most since November 17, 2021. Their 16 three-point shots are tied for ninth and the most since February 8, 2023.
• Montclair has six wins on the road this season, averaging 84 points per game in those contests.

FROM THE COURT
"Great team effort in all aspects tonight. Thought our guys competed for 40 & shared the ball which is evident with 32 assists. This team has been putting the work in & that work showed tonight. Love our guys' commitment to the process." - Head Coach Justin Potts

"This is a team accomplishment. The most important thing is we got the win. I need guys to find me when I'm open and they have done a great of that during my career. I'm going to just keep working." MIKE JACKSON on scoring his 1,000th career point. 

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will return home to face Rutgers-Camden on Saturday, January 20. Tip-off from the Panzer Athletic Center is slated for 1:00 pm.