Montclair, NJ – The Montclair State men's basketball team shot the ball better from Stockton University from the field, at the free throw line and nearly doubled the Ospreys on the boards. 

But the one thing the Red Hawks didn't do better was protect the basketball and it proved costly in more ways than one in an 83-80 loss on Wednesday evening. The loss was a heartbreaking one for MSU, which missed out on the final spot in the NJAC Tournament. Montclair (11-14), which ended the year dropping three straight, finished one game out of the field at 7-11 in the NJAC as William Paterson grabbed the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament.

Montclair State shot 52 percent from the field and was 21-of-27 at the foul line (78 percent) and held a 44-26 advantage on the glass. But it was 27 turnovers including key ones during the final six minutes as Stockton (19-6, 14-4 NJAC) rallied from 11 points down to sweep the season series with MSU extending its winning streak against Montclair to five while taking a 46-29 lead in 75 all-time meetings.

Juniors Shaun Russell and Brandon Channer finished with 27 and 25 points respectively for the Red Hawks and accounted for 32 of Montclair's 43 points in the first half as MSU led 43-35 at the break. Back and forth in the early going, Channer put the Red Hawks in front with a three-pointer making the score 16-13 and two free throws by Russell with 8:16 to go before halftime.

The Ospreys cut the deficit to 29-28 on Jaymere Hadden's layup however Aaron Williams answered with a layup and Russell banged in a three putting Montclair in front 34-28 with 4:33 left. After Maurice Hart trimmed the lead to four points (34-30) with 4:04 remaining, MSU scored the next seven points, taking a 41-30 advantage on Channer's two foul shots with 1:51 to play.

In the second half, the Red Hawks would push the lead up to 13 points, 52-39 in the first six minutes of the half and Montclair kept the Ospreys at bay over the next eight minutes. Jahvan Rosbia connected twice from the line with 6:56 to play putting Montclair State up 70-59. But Stockton chipped away at the lead taking advantage of four MSU turnovers during a 13-2 run. Hadden had a pair of dunks and a three-point play by Armin Cane gave Stockton its first lead since the first two minutes of the game at 73-72 with 2:29 remaining.

Russell answered back with a three-point play regaining the lead for the Red Hawks however Cane scored on a layup with 1:49 forging a 75-75 tie and Hadden gave Stockton the lead 34 seconds later. After an MSU miss, Cane sank one free throws and added one more with 25 seconds to make the score 79-75. Channer got two back at the line but those were answered by Marcus Harmon, who made two of his own with 10 seconds.  Hart sealed the game for the Ospreys sinking two free throws with four ticks.

Cane finished with 19 points for Stockton, including 17 in the second half. Hart led the Ospreys with 22 points with Hadden totaling 20 along with four assists and four steals. Harmon added 14 points for the Ospreys, who had just 10 turnovers in the game and turned MSU's 27 in to 24 points. Hart pulled down seven rebounds.

Brian Crosby had six points and 10 rebounds for MSU while Jarrett Bogus hauled in six rebounds.