Montclair, NJ – The third-seeded Montclair State University men's basketball team knocked off sixth-seeded Kean University 90-79 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Red Hawks (18-8) advanced to the NJAC Semifinals, where they will face second-seeded Stockton University on Wednesday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Montclair raced out of the gates, jumping out to a 19-4 lead 4:38 into the game. KUNGA TSERING had five points during the opening spurt, while FRANCISCO PAULINO, MIKE JACKSON, and KEYON PRYCE added four.
• The lead swelled to 16 on a Paulino layup before Kean's six consecutive points trimmed the margin to single digits. AHMAD ROBERTSON kick-started a 6-0 run by the Red Hawks as a Tsering layup stretched the score back to 11 with 3:58 left in the half.
• The Cougars answered back, holding the Red Hawks without a point for the remainder of the period and tying the game at 36 with a buzzer-beating jumper from Trey Harts. Montclair shot 53.9% (14-of-26) from the floor as Kean was nearly as efficient at a 47.1% (16-of-34) clip.
• A three-pointer early in the second gave Kean their first lead of the afternoon, and the visitors grabbed their largest advantage of the day with a layup with 18:21 left in the second half. Six consecutive tallies from Tsering pushed Montclair in front before Kean answered with a bucket to make it 55-54 Cougars.
• Tsering's layup with 13:08 left started a run of seven straight markers for Montclair, capped off by a triple from KYREE HENRY. Kean closed to within a pair, but a Pryce layup led to six consecutive points.
• Pryce converted a traditional three-point play with 3:41 to bring the margin back to 11, and visitors did not get any closer than that the rest of the way.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Tsering scored a team-best 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting, marking the second time he's gone over 20 points this season. It was his first 20-point outing since scoring 22 against Penn College in the second game of the season.
• Pryce added 18 points, was 6-of-7 from the charity stripe, and had four assists.
• Led by the 21 from Tsering, the Red Hawks reserves outscored Kean 42-22.

 FROM THE COURT
" Great environment in Panzer. Thanks to all the fans that showed support. Thought our guys came out with a great mindset and approach and then showed resiliency all day and kept responding every time they needed to. Overall a total team effort for a good win." - Head Coach Justin Potts. 
 
UP NEXT
The Red Hawks head to Galloway, NJ, to face Stockton on Wednesday, with the game time scheduled for 7 pm.