Montclair, NJ- Facing a 16-point deficit at halftime, the Montclair State Men's Basketball team (3-1) surged in the second half, outscoring Wesleyan (2-0) by 13 points, but ultimately fell short against the Cardinals, 70-67 on Wednesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• The Cardinals got things going with a three off the bat, but was answered right back on the next possession by SAMAR ABDULLAH. Wesleyan then sparked an 8-3 run to jump out to an 11-6 lead before a three pointer by CHRISTIAN CEVIS. Montclair eventually tied the game 14-14 at the 13:27 mark in the first half but it did not last long as a three-point shot by Shane Regan created an 10-2 run for them to take a 26-18 lead with 10:51 remaining in the first half.
• Eventually facing a 29-18 deficit, the Red Hawks fought back with an Abdullah three and a layup from AHMAD ROBERTSON, but the Cardinals kept their distance with six points on two layups and a dunk to hold a 35-25 advantage. An 11-5 run down the stretch eventually gave Wesleyan a 46-30 lead heading into halftime.
• Montclair got on the fastbreak early with a steal and a three-point shot from JACOB MORALES and a steal with a layup from KABRIEN GOSS to cut into the lead, 46-35 within the first minute. After both teams exchanged three points, the Red Hawks were able to create an 11-0 run that tied the game, 49-49 at the 13:10. That run saw a three and a layup from Cevis and buckets from KUNGA TSERING, Luis Armes and Abdullah. Wesleyan hit a pair of free throws to retake the lead, but the Red Hawks took their first lead of the night after a Tsering dunk and a steal by MIKE JACKSON led to a Cevis layup to take the lead 53-51 with 11:14 to go in the game.
• Both teams fought tooth-and-nail down the stretch. The biggest lead for the Red Hawks came at the 4:31 mark when Cevis hit a jumper as the shot clock expired to give Montclair a 62-57 lead. That was answered however by Wesleyan who scored nine unanswered to flip the script, 66-62 with 3:11 remaining. Jackson hit a three to cut the lead to one, but was answered by a layup on the other end on the next possession to make the score 68-65 with 2:33 remaining. Both teams hit pairs of free throws down the stretch to keep the score at a three-point distance. Jackson had a chance to send it to overtime, but the shot did not fall and Wesleyan handed Montclair their first loss of the season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Red Hawks saw three players hit double-digits in points on the night. Jackson and Cevis both collected 12 while Abdullah notched 10.
• Montclair saw 34 of their 67 points come off the bench tonight with Cevis leading the way.
• The team was perfect from the charity strike tonight when they went 9-for-9.

 
UP NEXT

• Montclair State University will travel to open up NJAC play when they battle Rowan on Tuesday, November 26 for a 7:30pm tip-off.