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 199^th 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.