Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State University men's basketball team topped Rutgers-Newark 70-49 on Saturday afternoon at the Panzer Athletic Center,

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (5-2, 2-1 NJAC) fell behind early, as the Scarlet Raiders notched nine of the first 12 points over the opening two minutes. Montclair rattled off back-to-back three point shots from MIKE JACKSON and SAMAR ABDULLAH to level the contest, but the visitors reopened a multi-possession lead over their next two trips up the court.
• With the game tied at 18 seven minutes in, JACOB MORALES connected on a layup and finished an and-one opportunity to give the Red Hawks the lead, and KIERAN FLANAGAN capitalized on a feed from KABRIEN GOSS to open the game to five. Later in the frame, a three-point shot from RYAN CASSELS notched the margin up to nine just under the halfway mark of the quarter.
• Up 30-24 with six minutes left, Morales connected on a three and AHMAD ROBERTSON hit a layup in the paint to give the home side a double-digit lead. Cevis and Tsering continued the run with layups of their own to close out the opening stanza, as Montclair took a 39-24 advantage into the break.
• Abdullah hit a three to increase Montclair's lead to 17 three and a half minutes into the second, as the Scarlet Raiders could not cut deep into the deficit. Just after the midway point of the half, Morales hit another shot from distance to balloon the lead to 19 at 54-35, the largest of the afternoon for the Red Hawks at the time.
• The Scarlet Raiders trimmed the lead down to 11 with 5:50 on the clock on layups in two out of three possessions, but the home side answered with a three from LUIS ARMAS and two free throws from Robertson. Rutgers-Newark made one final push, getting to within 10 at the 3:20 mark, but could not score the rest of the way as Montclair rattled off the final 11 points of the contest.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Morales led the way with a game-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds. The total was three off his season-best mark of 21 points set on November 9 against Alfred. He has knocked down three or more three-point shots in five contests during the campaign.
• Cevis notched 10 points, his second game in double-figures during the 2024-25 campaign. Jackson finished with nine points and five rebounds, and Armas collected nine points on three three-point shots.
• The Red Hawks shot 46 percent from the field and 42 percent from beyond the arc for the afternoon. Defensively, they forced 21 turnovers from Rutgers-Newark which led to 27 points on the other end.
• Montclair has won eight of the last 10 meetings against the Scarlet Raiders dating back to February 12, 2020.

FROM THE COURT

"Our guys did a great job of competing and staying connected throughout the game. I thought our depth really helped us today. We just need to keep working and stay focused." - Head Coach Justin Potts

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will remain home to take on Ramapo on Wednesday, December 11. Tip-off from the Panzer Athletic Center is scheduled for 7:30 PM.