Glassboro, NJ- Despite scoring a season-high 102 points, the Montclair State Men's Basketball team (3-2, 0-1 NJAC) dropped a high-scoring New Jersey Athletic Conference contest at Rowan (2-2, 1-0 NJAC), 107-102 on Tuesday night in their NJAC opener.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• MIKE JACKSON got the night going with a three-point field goal within the first 10 seconds of the contest, but the Profs responded well with 13-straight points to take an early 13-3 lead. The Red Hawks were able to cut the lead to 18-12 on baskets from AHMAD ROBERTSON, KUNGA TSERING, LUIS ARMAS and free throws from QUANTAVIOUS ROGERS, but once again Rowan was able to put together a big run, this time of 12-1 to take a 30-13 lead with 13:18 remaining in the first half.
• A three-pointer from KABRIEN GOSS, a layup from Jackson and a free throw and lay in from Robertson cut the lead to 34-21, but Rowan responded with a pair of free throws and a three-point shot after a Tsering tip in pushed the lead out to 16 with a 392-3 advantage. Both teams continued to exchange blows up to a 56-41 Rowan lead with 6:52 left in the half. The Profs scored seven-straight points to jump out to a 63-41 edge before an 8-1 run helped the Red Hawks claw back before halftime, 64-51. Those points were scored by two Jackson layups, a pair of free throws from Goss and a dunk by Robertson. The Profs closed out the half with two made free throws and took a 66-51 lead into the second half.
• The first six minutes of the second half was a continuous battle back-and-forth between both teams, who continued to show off their high-powered offenses up to the 13:52 timestamp where Rowan held an 80-63 lead. Jackson then brought the score within 10 with a single-handed 9-2 run that narrowed the deficit to 82-72.
• The Profs continued to keep the Red Hawks at bay, holding a double-digit lead until an 8-2 run that started at the 7:11 mark and ended at the 4:14 mark moved the game to a single-digit lead of 100-91. Despite seeing six points down the stretch from KIERAN FLANAGAN and five from Jackson, Rowan scored just enough to hold of the second-half surge from Montclair and won the conference-opening contest, 107-102

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Despite losing the last two contests, the Red Hawks have shown a strong ability to climb back into games, outscoring Rowan by 10 in the second half just like in their game against Wesleyan last week where they outscored them by 13 in the second half.
• Jackson led the way once again in scoring with 30 on the night, his highest of the season and the most points he has scored since the last time he squared off with Rowan om February 14, 2024, where he scored 33 in that game.
• Goss had his highest point total of his young career tonight, notching 16 that included going 3-for-4 from deep. It is the highest point total from a rookie since Robertson scored 20 last season against Stockton on February 4, 2024.
• Tsering notched his first ever double-double with an 18 point and 11 rebound performance tonight. It is also his second ever double-digit rebounding effort.
• The series between Rowan and Montclair continues to bring out the best of both offenses with five of the last six contests seeing both teams reach triple digits.

FROM THE COURT

"Credit to Rowan tonight. Thought they played very well in all aspects of the game. In order to win on the road in this conference you need to play a complete game and we didn't do that. We need to get back to work  and focus on areas that we need to improve on." - Head Coach Justin Potts
 
UP NEXT

• Montclair State University will continue on the road in their NJAC schedule when they play at William Paterson on Wednesday, December 4. Tip off for that game is scheduled for 8:00pm.