Montclair, NJ – Sophomore forwards Ryan Jensen hit from behind the arc with 1:14 remaining swinging the pendulum in The College of New Jersey's favor for the final time as the Lions edged Montclair State 92-88 at the Panzer Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
Randy Walko and Niall Carpenter each scored 22 points as the Lions (12-3, 7-1 NJAC) put five players in double figures while capturing its third consecutive victory.
Sophomore Eddie Emedoh scored a game and career-best 25 points for Montclair State, which dropped its second straight close-margin contest. Jovanni Chatham added 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Red Hawks (11-5, 5-4 NJAC).
Solid shooting in the first seven minutes helped TCNJ build and 11-point lead. Jordan Glover sank a three-pointer with 13:03 left giving the Lions a 21-10 advantage. Montclair State managed to chip away at the lead getting within 26-24 on a three-point play by Jarret Bogus.
TCNJ would go back up by seven and held a 41-36 lead inside three minutes before a six-point run gave MSU its first lead. Junior Kaan Yilmaz put in a layup however that was answered by Jordan Glover giving New Jersey a 43-42 lead at the break.
The razor-thin margin would become hallmark of the second half with neither side getting up by more than four points. Over the final 20 minutes the teams forged 11 ties and traded the lead 18 times. Justin Porter put the Red Hawks up 68-64 with 9:14 to play but that quickly became a 70-70 deadlock after Jensen hit on the 14 three-pointers in the game by the Lions.
Five more ties would occur, the last coming with 1:32 left as Chatham sank two from the line knotting the score at 81-81. But Jensen, who finished 4-of-5 from behind the arc hit the go-ahead triple putting TCNJ in front. Walko added three free throws pushing the lead to 86-81 with 29 ticks left. Chatham countered with a layup but two more foul shots by Walko made the score 88-83.
Chatham answered with a layup and was fouled. He converted the three-point play with 19 seconds pulling MSU within 86-83. Joe Mantano made two at the line pushing the lead back to 90-86. After Montclair State turned the ball over, Eric Murdock sealed the game at the line hitting two times with seven seconds remaining for a 92-86 advantage. Emedoh accounted for the final point scoring on a layup before the final buzzer.
Murdock finished with 16 points, six rebounds and nine assists for the Lions, who were 22-of-24 the foul line in the game. Glover had 11 points while Elias Bermudez chipped in with four points and a team-best eight rebounds. TCNJ shot 49 percent from the field (28-of-57), including 14-of-30 (47 percent) from three-point range.
Bogus added 13 points and three rebounds for MSU, which shot 52 percent (31-of-60) but just 8-of-22 from three-point range. Daniel Ramis and Joseph Radi had six points apiece.
The Red Hawks are back in action on Wednesday, January 17 when it begins the second half of NJAC play. Montclair will be at the Harwood Arena in Union, NJ taking on Kean University at 8pm. MSU won the first meeting of the season between the teams 77-63 back on November 21.