Montclair, NJ – Fueled by a strong second half, the #8 Montclair State men's basketball team surged past Rutgers-Newark 85-61 for its 18th consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon at the Panzer Athletic Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (18-0, 11-0 NJAC) raced out to a 11-2 advantage over the first four and a half minutes, shooting 4-of-5 with four different players hitting the statsheet. After a KABRIEN GOSS three-point shot forced a Scarlet Raiders timeout, the visitors climbed back to within one possession a minute later with six-straight points. With just under 12 minutes on the clock, CRISTIAN NICHOLSON found a slicing MYLES PRIMAS for a dunk, with JACOB MORALES draining a jumper off a Rutgers-Newark turnover to reopen an eight-point advantage. The visitors accumulated 10 of the next 15 points to cut the difference to one possession, 22-19, with 8:27 left in the half.
• Both sides tightened up defensively, with neither allowing a basket for the next two minutes until Morales converted a layup off a feed from Goss. With the two sides trading baskets over the ensuing minutes, Nicholson drove to the bucket to increase the margin back to six. Rutgers-Newark countered with a 9-2 run over the next 90 seconds to take the lead multiple times, holding a slim 33-32 lead at the 2:35 mark of the frame. AHMAD ROBERTSON took command down the stretch, scoring four of Montclair's seven consecutive points to rebuild a multi-possession lead. A pair of baskets in the waning moments of the half by the Scarlet Raiders made the halftime score 39-37 in favor of the Red Hawks.
• Montclair jumpstarted a quick seven points out of the gate in the second half, including a driving layup and three-pointer from Goss, to go up by nine and force a Rutgers-Newark timeout. Following a layup from the Scarlet Raiders, Montclair rattled off another run, scoring the next 10 points over the ensuing five minutes, capped off by a dunk from Primas to make the score 56-39. Shortly after, the Red Hawks continued to build on their advantage, as MASON THEAR converted a pair of free throws to spark a 13-0 run to push the home side in front 69-41 with nine minutes remaining.
• A three-pointer from Morales at the 7:07 mark of the half led a 9-3 stretch for the Red Hawks, as a layup from ANDREW MARTIN increased the lead to 32 with just over five minutes remaining. The visitors countered with seven of the next nine points over the resulting two minutes, but Montclair nudged the lead back to 30 with 2:06 on the clock. Rutgers-Newark closed the afternoon with the final six points, but the Red Hawks held on for their 11th New Jersey Athletic Conference victory of the campaign.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Montclair improved to 18-0 on the season, the best mark in Division III and the only undefeated team remaining in the country. Across all three levels, the Red Hawks are one of six remaining unbeaten teams.
• The 18-game winning streak is the fourth-highest mark in the history of the NJAC. Montclair has won 40 of its last 47 games dating back to the start of the 2024-25 season.
• Goss powered the Montclair offense with a game-high 19 points, shooting 5-for-9 from long distance and adding seven assists. He is averaging 20.7 points over his last four games.
• Morales tallied his eighth-straight double-digit performance with 12 points while leading the way on the boards with eight on the day.
• Defensively, the Red Hawks generated 32 turnovers, their second-best mark of the season. They generated 40 points on the other end of the court off those turnovers.
• For the game, Montclair shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc, making 6-of-12 attempts in the second half from long range. The Red Hawks average 92.7 points per game this season, which ranks 10th in the country.
• All 17 Red Hawks saw action in the contest, with 11 registering points in the statsheet and nine different players recorded multiple baskets.

FROM THE COURT

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UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will hit the road to battle William Paterson on Wednesday, January 28. Tip-off from Wayne, NJ is scheduled for 7:30 PM.