In a spirited contest from start to finish, the Montclair State University men’s basketball team emerged victorious over their New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rivals, Rowan by a final score of 79-78 at the Panzer Athletic Center in Montclair, New Jersey.
Montclair won the opening tip-off, but Rowan hopped on the loose ball and went in for the two-point lay up. Montvale-native Jacob Morales went the other way and scored a lay up to tie things up at 2-2. The two teams traded scores up until the scoreboard read 8-8.
The Red Hawks then went on a 10-0 run that stretched their lead to 18-8 at the 14:02 mark. This was broken up by a free throw made by Rowan’s Taz Cantey. At 12:52, Cantey made a steal and had the ball swatted out of bounds as he went for the lay up. This began a 11-0 run for Rowan who went ahead thanks to a three-ball from Chris McCarron, leaving the scoreboard reading 19-18 Rowan. Rowan’s run was ended by sophomore guard Ahmad Robertson’s dunk for the Red Hawks.
The game saw four lead changes until a 28-27 Red Hawks lead. With 4:15 remaining in the first half, Robertson hit a three-ball as the shot clock ran out to give Montclair State a 31-27 lead. Montclair’s 4-0 run was broken up by McCarron’s jump shot at 3:31. Then Jacob Morales answered with a jump shot of his own before Cantey went down the other end of the floor and scored a lay up for Rowan to make it 33-31 Red Hawks. Thanks to points from senior guard Quantavious Rogers, freshman guard Kabrien Goss and Robertson, the Red Hawks went on a 6-0 run to make it 39-31. This was broken up by Drew Amos’s three-ball at 45 seconds left in the game to make it 39-34.
Rowan had the last laugh of the first half, when McCarron sank a three-ball with ten seconds left. Montclair State and Rowan, two bitter rivals went into the halftime break separated by just five points. It was a very even first half, as the stats would suggest. Montclair State held a 19-18 advantage in rebounding while the Profs held the slight edge in field goal percentage, 50 percent to 48.6 percent, and a greater edge in three-point percentage, 30 percent to 20 percent.
Second Half Deadlock
Rowan tied the game up at 42 just 30 seconds into the first half. Luckily for the Red Hawks, Robertson remained on fire, sinking a three pointer, a little under two minutes into the half that stopped Rowan’s 7-0 run, and the scoreboard read 45-44.
The two teams exchanged scores until the score read 62-62 at 10:40. Both teams started fouling as fatigue started to set in. Robertson was fouled by Rowan’s Danny Fleming at 10:33 and made 1 of 2 free throws. When he missed the second, it was rebounded by Fleming. The ball found its way around to McCarron who swished the three to give the lead back to Rowan, 65-63. A momentum shifting play happened when Rowan went in on a three-on-one. The ball found its way to Jamir Spivey who went up for the dunk and was emphatically blocked by Robertson.
With the score 66-65 Profs, Morales hit a three-ball to put Montclair State out in front at 8:06. Then Rowan’s Ife Okebiorun dunked to tie the game up at 70. The score was tied at 70 with five minutes remaining in the game. With 4:36 remaining in the game, Fleming dunked to give Rowan a 72-70 lead. At the other end of the floor, Morales hit a three-ball to put Montclair State back in the lead, 73-72.
Rowan’s Khalif Meares made a lay up and senior guard Mike Jackson made a lay up for the Red Hawks. Rogers hit two free throws for the Red Hawks giving them a 77-74 lead with 3:46 remaining in the game. The Red Hawks then coughed the ball up on the next possession and Meares ran the length of the floor for the Profs to score the lay up to make it 77-76. Goss then went the length of the court himself for a lay up to stretch Montclair State’s lead to three once more, 79-76.
On the next Red Hawk possession, Flanagan turned the ball over and Meares once again was there to pick it up, stride into the paint and lay the ball in to cut Rowan’s deficit to one point, 79-78. There were now just 27 seconds left in the game and every play mattered.
Rowan fouled Goss and he missed his free throw, and the ball was rebounded by Rowan. At the other end of the floor, Fleming attempted a three-point shot for the Profs and his shot hit the back of the rim and came out. In the mad scramble for the loose ball, Goss was fouled again and again he missed his free throw and the ball was rebounded by Spivey. Spivey passed to Meares who started dribbling the ball up the court. The clock appeared to run out but upon further review it was determined that Rowan had called a timeout with 1.9 seconds left.
The visitors would have less than two seconds to make a shot to win the game. Rowan inbounded the ball and passed the ball into the corner where their player made the shot from behind the arc. Upon further review it was determined that the shot was taken after the clock had run out and the Red Hawks held on for a narrow 79-78 victory.
Refs call no basket for Rowan 🦉 on the final play of the game against @msuredhawks men's basketball 🏀 pic.twitter.com/xaEbKOtnjo
— Tony Paradise (@TonyParadise3) January 23, 2025
Postgame Reactions from the Red Hawks
After this hotly contested rivalry game, Montclair State head coach Justin Potts described what he saw from both teams and what in the end was the difference.
“I just think you had two good teams that had a lot of really good players. Guys were making plays all night. I thought both teams really competed with a ton of effort and a lot of times it comes down to a possession here or there in this league and the clock was on our side. I thought our guys did a good job down the stretch of executing at both ends of the floor, getting some stops when we needed it, and you find a way to come out with a one-point win.”
Leading the way for the Red Hawks on the floor on Wednesday night was sophomore guard Ahmad Robertson. Robertson led all players in this game with 18 points, while shooting 7/10 from the field and 3/5 from three-point range.
Robertson described what it was like to step up and fill the minutes left behind by his injured teammates.
“Basically, just play with a lot of energy and try to get my team the win. Whatever helps my team win, that’s what I want to do. I try to do whatever they need me to do and today it was just falling for me.”
Rowan was able to keep it a close game thanks to the scoring they got from two of their guards, Chris McCarron and Khalif Meares who contributed 15 and 14 points respectively.
Robertson described what was most difficult about playing against Rowan.
“They just get the ball and go. They’re very good in transition, they’re a very quick team, they all can attack you downhill so it’s kind of hard to like guard that. Especially with the way we play—we play with a press. So it’s kind of hard to when you see a teammate or the ball go through a net, get connected to everybody and they’re just pinging it and it’s up the sideline. They’re very good in transition and very quick with the ball.”
Wednesday’s win was Montclair State’s fourth in a row and their overall record improved to 12-5 and 7-3 in conference play. The NJAC is a very tight conference as four teams have 7-3 records in conference play: Ramapo College, Montclair State, Stockton and Kean.
Coach Potts is determined to take it one game at a time.
“It means one day at a time. You just got to find a way to keep getting better. We talk all the time about the journey and we’re in the part of the journey where you’re in the middle of league play. It’s just coming to work everyday and having the right approach, having the fight inside of you to really work and be committed to what we’re doing. This is a connected group. Their connectivity’s great and their spirit’s great and they’ve showed that over the last few games that we’ve played.”
The Red Hawks’ next game is on the road against Rutgers-Newark. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Jan. 25. The last time they played, the Red Hawks came away with a 70-49 victory on Dec. 7 and they will be seeking a fifth straight win.
