Ewing, NJ – The #1 Montclair State University Men's Basketball team was defeated by The College of New Jersey 94-85 on Wednesday night to conclude the 2025-26 regular season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (24-1, 17-1 NJAC) played a tightly-contested opening three minutes, with both sides tallying four points each. TCNJ notched a layup and three-pointer on consecutive possessions to open a five-point advantage, but JACOB MORALES hit a pair of three-pointers to make the score 12-10 in favor of the home side after five minutes. Trailing by four shortly later, the Red Hawks rattled off the game's next six points, including four from CRISTIAN NICHOLSON, to surge ahead by two at the 14-minute mark. After the Lions countered with four of their own coming out of a timeout, KABRIEN GOSS rattled in a three-pointer on the next trip up the floor. The two sides continued to trade the lead over the resulting minutes, with another Goss shot from long distance putting the visitors in front 25-24 at the midway point of the opening stanza.
• With TCNJ holding a slim one-point lead 90 seconds later, Goss drove to the basket to spark what would be a 6-0 spurt for the Red Hawks, who took a 31-26 advantage on a layup from Morales. Following a TCNJ layup on the next possession, Nicholson and CHRISTIAN CEVIS each tallied a basket to grow the lead to seven with six minutes on the clock. As the margin remained at seven, the Lions climbed back into the contest with a 10-2 scoring run over the next three and a half minutes to go back in front by one. Morales put Montclair back in front with a layup at the 1:44 mark of the period, as a three-pointer from the home side with 20 seconds remaining put them into the lead going into the break, 43-41.
• The two sides came out of halftime still within a one-possession margin over the first two minutes, with a jumper from ANDREW MARTIN leveling the contest at 47. TCNJ countered with the next five points before the Red Hawks climbed within one possession again on a pair of free throws from Goss at the 16:36 mark. Another stretch for the Lions pushed them in front by double-digits, 61-51, after they tallied nine of the next 11 points. As the half continued to tilt on runs, Montclair rattled off eight consecutive points, led by seven from Morales, to catapult back within one possession with just over 12 minutes remaining. The home side nudged the lead back to seven before Morales drained a pull-up jumper and Goss hit a three-pointer to make the gap two once again with 9:09 on the clock.
• TCNJ connected on a shot from beyond the arc immediately after, and a layup on the next possession forced a timeout from the visitors. KUNGA TSERING threw down a dunk coming out of the stoppage, but the Lions reopened a double-digit lead at 81-69 with a 7-0 run. As the game clock went under four minutes, Goss converted a pull-up jumper before TCNJ notched six of the next seven points to go up by 14 with 2:14 remaining. The combination of Morales and Goss trimmed the difference to 11, with the duo kicking off a 8-1 spark for Montclair to cut the game to seven points with 49 seconds left. That would be the closest the Red Hawks would get the rest of the way as TCNJ sealed the victory in the regular season finale.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Morales led the way offensively for the Red Hawks with a game-high 31 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the floor, hitting five attempts from beyond the arc while adding eight rebounds. His performance was one point from his season-best, with the senior averaging 24.6 points per game over his last six.
• Goss was the other Red Hawk in double figures with 20 points, adding a well-rounded five rebounds, four steals, and three assists. He has reached 20 points in five contests this season.
• Montclair shot 44 percent from the floor for the night and generated 15 turnovers on the defensive side of the ball.

FROM THE COURT

"Tough NJAC battle tonight on the road in a great environment. Credit to TCNJ, I thought they played great. Time to get back to work and prepare for the NJAC Tournament next week." - Head Coach Justin Potts

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will host the winner of NJCU and Rowan in the NJAC Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday, February 25. Tip-off from the Panzer Athletic Center is scheduled for 7:00 PM.