Montclair, NJ – Crossing the century mark for the fifth time this season, the #3 Montclair State University men's basketball team downed Ramapo 103-75 on Wednesday night at the Panzer Athletic Center.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Red Hawks (21-0, 14-0 NJAC) kicked off the night with a pair of three-point shots from JACOB MORALES to open a multi-possession lead early. Following a Roadrunner layup, MYLES PRIMAS tallied four points on back-to-back possessions to push the margin to eight, 10-2, three minutes in. 90 seconds later, KUNGA TSERING fed AHMAD ROBERTSON for a long distance shot to increase the difference to three possessions. Free throws from ANDREW MARTIN and Tsering nudged the margin to 19-6 at the 14:09 mark of the stanza. Montclair ballooned the lead to 18 points over the next two minutes behind a 11-4 scoring run where they shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor, hitting three shots from beyond the arc.
• Ramapo answered with a pair of buckets on two of their next three possessions before back-to-back threes from Morales and KEVIN BECK increased the advantage to 20 for the home side at the midway marker of the half. Two minutes later, CRISTIAN NICHOLSON drained a three, generated a steal, and connected on another long range shot to vault the Red Hawks ahead 44-19 with 7:33 on the clock. Ramapo converted a three-point play at the line to trim the deficit to 22 two minutes later, but the Red Hawks answered with another 8-2 flurry to jump out by 28 points, capped off by a layup from Robertson. Montclair tallied five of the final nine points of the half to go into the break up 61-32.
• The visitors came out of halftime with the first seven points of the stanza before Morales halted the run with a layup off a feed from KABRIEN GOSS. Ramapo continued to climb back into the contest, mounting a 11-4 stretch over the next three and a half minutes to make the score 67-50 with 13 minutes to play. Montclair scored six of the next eight points over the resulting 90 seconds, capped off by a CHRISTIAN CEVIS three-pointer from the wing to push the lead back to 21. In a half of runs, the Roadrunners accumulated a 8-3 spurt over the next 96 seconds to force a timeout from Montclair with 8:52 remaining, with the score 78-62.
• On the out of bounds play coming out of the stoppage, Robertson found Tsering for a three from the near wing, sparking a 9-1 burst over the next two minutes, with Robertson scoring the remaining six points. Long distance markers from Morales and MASON THEAR made the score 95-70 with 4:15 to play, as a dunk from Primas capped off what was a 9-2 run from the home side. Following a driving layup from the Roadrunners, Robertson connected on his final shot of the night to propel Montclair past 100 points as the Red Hawks would go on to seal the home victory in the 2024-25 NJAC Championship Game rematch.

INSIDE THE RESULTS

• Montclair increased its season-opening win streak to 21 games, remaining the only undefeated Division III team in the nation. Across all three levels, the Red Hawks are one of five undefeated teams across the country.
• The 21-game winning streak moved into sole possession of the third-longest stretch in the history of the New Jersey Athletic Conference, passing William Paterson's mark of 20 during the 2009-10 season. It is also one of six win streaks of 20 or more games in the history of Montclair Athletics and the first since softball rattled off 25 straight in 2014.
• Morales led the way for the Red Hawks with 25 points on 9-for-16 shooting from the field, hitting six shots from beyond the arc. He has eclipsed 20 points in nine contests this season, including each of the last two. His six three-pointers matched his season-best that he has reached four times. Morales moved into second in program history in long distance makes with 174 through 50 appearances, passing Steven Breeman.
• Robertson collected 17 points off the bench, hitting three of four attempts from long distance while adding seven boards. He has surpassed double-digit points in each of his last three appearances and seven of his last nine.
• Nicholson totaled 13 points, six assists, four rebounds, and four steals to stuff the statsheet for the home side. Beck added nine points, shooting 4-of-5 from the floor, with Primas adding eight points and five boards.
• Goss finished the night with 11 assists, marking a new career-high and becoming the first Red Hawk to record double-digit assists since KIERAN FLANAGAN on December 17, 2022 against Centenary. He moved into 11th in program history with the performance, surpassing Patrick Brunner and sitting at 242 through 50 career games.
• Montclair shot 47 percent from the field for the night, hitting 41 percent from distance. The Red Hawks totaled 61 points in the first half, the most for any frame this season. It also sealed their first regular season sweep of Ramapo since the 2022-23 campaign.

FROM THE COURT

"Great atmosphere tonight in Panzer, appreciate all the support. I thought we started the game really strong and we shot the ball well throughout the night. It was a balanced effort and we got some good contributions across the board. We will keep working and prepare for a tough NJAC road test on Saturday." - Head Coach Justin Potts

UP NEXT

The Red Hawks will travel to Stockton on Saturday, January 7. Tip-off from Galloway, NJ is scheduled for 1:00 PM.