The Montclair State Red Hawks (19-4; NJAC 13-3) avoided the upset loss and defeated the Ramapo College Roadrunners (9-14; NJAC 5-11) in overtime with a score of 85-79 in Mahwah, New Jersey. The dynamic duo of Steven Breeman and Mike Jackson combined for 52 points which contributed to Montclair State's second half comeback from a 19-point first half deficit.
Game Recap
Montclair State came into Wednesday night's game winning the last six out of seven games. This past Saturday, they suffered a tough loss to second place Stockton University (20-3; NJAC 14-2) with a score of 93-86. Montclair State looked to avenge that loss and find themselves back in the win column, as they traveled 23 miles north to take on Ramapo College. Both teams have familiarity with one another, playing each other back on Jan 4.
It was a tight battle where Montclair State pulled off a 78-70 victory at home. Ramapo hoped to make a major conference upset over one of the top teams in the NJAC before the regular season came to an end.
They instantly started to create havoc for a fast paced Montclair team causing turnovers and chasing the offensive glass for second chance points to give them an earlier lead. The first half felt like Ramapo was really heading into the direction of an upset win over Montclair State.
Freshman Elijah Barlow came off the bench and made an instant impact knocking down back to back threes, boosting Ramapo’s lead to 18-9 forcing Montclair State to call their first timeout with 11:18 in the first half.
Montclair State is the best three-point team in the NJAC and lives or dies with the three-pointer. This was shown throughout the first half as nothing could fall for the Red Hawks. Montclair State shot 5-21 from deep, only contesting six other field goals.
Barlow and sophomore Peter Gorman combined for 21 out of the Roadrunner’s 40 first half points which tied Montclair’s first half score. The Roadrunners six-man rotation were all contributing throughout the floor and this help spark an early lead over this tough Montclair State team.
It was obvious the Roadrunners wanted it more in the first half, they were all over the floor forcing 12 first half turnovers. This team gave it all they had in the first half and the Roadrunners found themselves up 40-21, heading into the locker room.
Senior Steven Breeman, who leads the conference in 3-pointers, was non-existent in the first half as the Roadrunners kept him scoreless. Montclair State desperately needed him to explode in the second half and he did just that.
Breeman would score Montclair’s first five points of the second half, decreasing the Roadrunners lead to 14. With 17:17 to play, Breeman splashed in his second three of the second half, inching away at the Roadrunners' big first half lead.
Jackson decided to join in on the second half fun, as he had a 9-0 individual run to cut Montclair’s deficit to only six points with 14:31 to play. The three-ball was finally starting to fall for Montclair State, and this is what has guided them to a 19-win season thus far.
The dynamic duo of Breeman and Jackson was on display tonight as the two of them combined for 11 three-pointers. Breeman was finally able to get it going from the field and this helped spark Montclair’s comeback in the second half.
Both teams continued to battle, trading buckets during the final 10 minutes of the game. It was unclear if Montclair’s momentum would overpower a struggling Ramapo team. But, Ramapo was in search of that upset victory and continued to fight until the end.
After playing their worst half of basketball in the first half, Breeman and Jackson showed out in the second half. Jackson hit a huge jump shot to cut Ramapo’s lead to one with just 1:13 remaining.
After a pair of free throws from Barlow with 13 seconds remaining, Montclair State found themselves down three with possession of the ball. Ramapo figured either Jackson or Breeman would be the one attempting the final shot to force overtime.
What Ramapo was unaware of is that Montclair has one of the toughest players on the court in junior Kiernan Flanagan. With Ramapo expecting Breeman or Jackson to take the last shot, this led to an open shot for Flanagan to tie the game with three seconds left.
Flanagan executed the open three, knocking down his first three of the game sending this thriller game into overtime. Flanagan finished the game with six points, six rebounds, six assists, and three steals. He is always a contributor on the court every single game, and clutched up when it mattered most for his team.
Montclair State would outscore Ramapo 13-7 in overtime to pull off the win. Breeman and Jackson would each knock down a three ball in overtime to help Montclair avoid a major upset. Jackson would finish with 27 points and Breeman would finish with 25, which all came in the second half and helped boost Montclair back into the win column.
What’s Next for Montclair State?
Montclair State sits in third place in the NJAC going into their final two games of the season. They will host fourth place Kean University (17-6; NJAC 10-6) this Saturday before their final showdown of the regular season against Rowan University. Rowan (19-4; NJAC 15-1) sits in first place in the NJAC with just one conference loss. Montclair State will look to get some revenge to end their regular season before heading into postseason.
