At the Panzer Athletic Center, the Montclair State Red Hawks defeated the William Paterson Pioneers Tuesday evening in the NJAC Tournament Quarterfinals, 71-66.
The Red Hawks entered the game undermanned as they played without junior guard Keyon Price (wrist) and junior guard Greg Ecks (ankle). They did get back senior forward Irvin Callander IV (quad), who saw limited action.
The Pioneers entered this game after taking an embarrassing defeat in the previous matchup at home, 83-60, roughly three weeks ago. That game featured a healthy Montclair State roster and a mid-game ejection from Pioneers forward Yvens Monfleury.
The first ten minutes of the game featured both teams jockeying back and forth with the lead but no one pulling away. Montclair State got the first glimpse of separation as their star freshman Mike Jackson hit back-to-back three-pointers to open up the lead to eight for the Red Hawks. A few minutes later, senior forward Steve Breeman hit a long three to extend the lead to 14 points at one point, completing a 28-11 run for the Red Hawks. Yvens Monfleury broke away on an emphatic fastbreak dunk to stop the bleeding as the Pioneers slowly built off that and chipped the lead down to six going into the half.
Montclair State held that lead to around five points for the first portion of the second half, responding to any bucket William Patterson connected on. Then a quick 7-1 run sparked the Red Hawk lead back to double digits as Mike Jackson had a fastbreak layup and found Junior forward Francisco Paulino down low for an easy bucket.
The Pioneers cut that lead down to three with seven minutes remaining as Yvens Monfleury and Junior forward Michael Gilmore capitalized off second-chance points in the paint. The Red Hawks tried to regain the separation that was once theirs, but William Paterson refused to fold as junior guard Adryan Lopez put the Pioneers down by just two with a little over two minutes left.
On the same possession, Montclair State's starting senior point guard Devin Cooper hobbled off with a slight knee injury as the Red Hawks were down to sophomore Kiernan Flanagan as their only point guard. In the following possession, the Red Hawks passed the ball around the key for most of the 35-second shot clock, and it was Flanagan knocked down a 3 in the corner to bump the lead up to five with 1:30 left.
On the ensuing possession, junior guard Jadon Cepeda, who led the Pioneers with 12 points, ended up cutting it back down to three. Then with nearly a minute left, the Red Hawks drew out another long possession as Callander IV hit the baby floater to get the lead back up to five and ice the game for Montclair State. Due to the clock being under a minute, Montclair State played possession and connected on most of their free throws to close the win.
What's Next For Montclair State
The Red Hawks (14-9) advanced to the NJAC Tournament semifinals and will face Stockton (22-4) Thursday in Glassboro. Despite being the number one seed, Stockton barely beat TCNJ by four at home in their quarterfinal game. Thursday should be a close and entertaining contest.
- Montclair State falls to Hamilton in Division III NCAA Tournament - March 5, 2023
- Montclair State knocks out NJCU to advance to NJAC semi-finals - February 19, 2023
- Montclair Hangs On for Victory Over Kean Cougars - February 11, 2023
