Montclair, NJ (1/29/11) – Senior guard Tom Bonard (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) scored 15 points, including four key free throws inside the final minute as Montclair State held off a Richard Stockton comeback in the second half for its fourth straight win in a 69-61 NJAC inter-divisional victory at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Rodney Freeney (Piscataway, NJ / Piscataway) and sophomore A.J. Larkin (Passaic, NJ / St. Mary's (Rutherford)) each added 13 points as the Red Hawks improved to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in the league and in second place in the NJAC North Division. The win was also the 199th career win at Montclair State for head coach Ted Fiore, who is now 199-121 in his 13 seasons with the Red Hawks. Fiore is one victory shy of becoming the ninth coach in MSU athletic history to achieve 200 wins in a career.
Senior guard Kai Maasquoi (Lawnside, NJ / Haddon Heights) posted a game-high 19 points for Richard Stockton, which nearly battled back from a 21-point deficit in the second half. The Ospreys had their three-game win streak snapped and fell to 11-7 overall, 5-3 in the NJAC South Division.
Montclair State never trailed in the game and led 35-24 at halftime as senior Tyrone Prewitt (Trenton, NJ / Trenton Central) collected eight points and 10 rebounds while the Red Hawks held Stockton to just 30 percent (7-of-23) from the field in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, that lead grew as a 7-0 run gave Montclair Sate a 53-32 advantage with 12:22 to play on Freeney's jumper in the lane. But the Ospreys chipped away with a 10-point run over the next three minutes to pull within 53-44 on free throw by Dave Williams (Pennsauken, NJ / Pennsauken). The Red Hawks boosted the lead back to 59-46 on two foul shots by Prewitt before Stockton scored 10 of the next 11 points to get within four with three minutes remaining.
Junior guard Pat Kelley (Cape May CH, NJ / Wildwood Catholic) drained a 27-foot three-pointer to make the score 60-56 with 2:59 on the clock and a free throw by Massaquoi with 2:16 to play got the Ospreys to three points of MSU. Montclair answered with a layup by Prewitt however Massaqoui countered with two more from the line for a 62-59 MSU lead with 1:07 left.
On the next possession, Bonard was fouled and went to the line for a two shot foul with 48 seconds to go. He made the first and then the Stockton bench was assessed a technical foul. Bonard would hit both technical free throws as well as the second of his initial attempts restoring the MSU lead to 66-59.
Massaquoi got two back from the charity stripe with 42 seconds to make the score 66-61. But Freeney connected once from the line and Larkin twice, the latter coming with 14 seconds to seal the win for the Red Hawks.
Prewitt finished with a double-double for Montclair State collecting 12 points and 14 rebounds. Junior Andrew August (Bridgewater, NJ / Bridgewater-Raritan) had eight points and seven rebounds as MSU shot 50 percent for the game (23-of-46) from the field.
Nnamdi Usuwa (Colonia, NJ / Colonia) added 11 points and nine rebounds while DiAndre Brown (Sicklerville, NJ / Camden County Tech) recorded 10 points and seven rebounds. The Ospreys finished the game 17-of-54 (32 percent) from the field, including 5-of-24 from three-point range.
Montclair State returns to action on Wednesday, February 2 as they host local rival William Paterson at the Panzer Athletic Center at 8:00 pm in the second half of a doubleheader. Richard Stockton stays on the road with a Monday, January 31 contest at Brooklyn College at 7:00 pm.