MONTCLAIR, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2025) – The Montclair State University men's basketball team built a 19-point halftime lead and went on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 89-74, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Saturday afternoon.
The win was the seventh straight for the Red Hawks, lifting their record to 15-5 overall and 10-3 in the NJAC, tied for the lead with Stockton University.
Rutgers-Camden falls to 8-11 overall and 3-10 in the conference.
Montclair State has won its last nine games against Rutgers-Camden and leads the all-time series, 64-11.
The Red Hawks scored the first six points of the game and held the Scarlet Raptors scoreless until they scored 5:13 into the game on a free throw by freshman guard
Ryan Senft. Rutgers-Camden cut its deficit to 6-4 before Montclair State scored the next 11 points to make it a 17-4 game midway through the opening half.
By halftime, Montclair State held a 44-25 lead, aided by 13 points from junior forward Jacob Morales. For Rutgers-Camden, junior forward
Cameron Downs had seven first-half points.
Rutgers-Camden cut the gap to 71-59 with 7:19 remaining on a trey by sophomore guard
Lamar Davis, but Montclair State tallied the next five points to open up the margin again.
Senior guard Mike Jackson finished with 27 points for the Red Hawks, while Morales scored 19, graduate guard Kieran Flanagan netted 11 and junior guard Christian Cevis added 10. Freshman guard Kabrien Goss collected game highs of eight assists and five steals.
Downs paced the Scarlet Raptors with 22 points. Davis added 15 points, tying his Scarlet Raptor high in his first year at Rutgers-Camden. He also scored 15 points against Stockton on Jan. 8.
Montclair State shot 30-for-56 (53.6 percent) from the floor and 16-for-19 (84.2) from the foul line, while holding a 33-24 advantage off the boards. Rutgers-Camden shot 23-for-51 (45.1) from the floor and 22-for-25 (88.0) from the line.
The Red Hawks made one more turnover than the Scarlet Raptors made, 24-23.
Rutgers-Camden returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts The College of New Jersey in an 8 p.m. NJAC game.
