Montclair, NJ (1/4/12) – Montclair State and William Paterson are separated by roughly nine miles in distance from one another. On Wednesday evening at the Panzer Athletic Center that gap was even closer as the Montclair pulled out an 80-79 overtime victory over the Pioneers in an NJAC North Division contest.
Senior forward Andrew August (Bridgewater, NJ / Bridgewater-Raritan) collected a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Red Hawks won their fifth straight improving to 12-3 overall, 2-1 in the NJAC.
Junior guard Cory Chandler (Newark, NJ / Newark East Side) added a double-double of his own scoring 20 points and 13 rebounds however his tip-in at the buzzer fell short as the Pioneers lost for just the second time in 12 contests this season (10-2). William Paterson is also 2-1 in the NJAC.
After Chandler tied the game with two seconds to go in regulation, Montclair quickly regained the lead as Dwight Bostic (Roselle, NJ / Abraham Clark) was fouled on the opening tip and hit both attempts from the line for a 75-73 lead. Femi Agunibiade (Maplewood, NJ / Columbia) tied the game a minute later and after an MSU make at the line, Chandler's jumper gave the Pioneers a 77-76 lead with 2:46 to play.
August answered with two of his own at the line and Ken Rubenstein's (South Orange, NJ / Columbia) two free throws with 1:27 left put Montclair in front 80-77. Nolan Hill (Edgewater, NJ / Bergen Catholic) answered with a putback trimming the MSU lead to 80-79 with 1:04 on the clock.
The teams traded turnovers and Montclair had possession with 18 seconds. The Red Hawks turned the ball over again giving William Paterson the first of two chances to win the game. Chandler drove the lane with four seconds but his shot was off the mark. The ball was tied up on the rebound and the possession arrow favored the Pioneers giving them another opportunity with 1.3 seconds.
Following a timeout, William Paterson lobbed the ball into Chandler from underneath the basket. The junior caught the inbounds pass and tried the lay the ball over the front of the rim. But his shot hit the back iron and rolled off allowing Montclair to escape with the one-point victory.
Montclair State led by eight points, 37-29 at the half, but a quick spurt by the Pioneers to open the second half sliced that deficit down to a point a Lance Brown (Teaneck, NJ / Paterson Catholic) scored on a layup to make the score 37-36. After the Red Hawks went back up by five a few minutes later the game became a tightly contested battle the rest of the way as scored was tied 10 times and lead changed seven over the final 20 minutes.
MSU's Brian Flores (Union, NJ / Union Catholic) gave the Red Hawks a 68-62 lead with 1:58 to play in regulation before a six-point run by Pioneers tied the game with 55 ticks as Brown hit twice at the line. Flores regained the lead for MSU with two foul shots and makes by Ordel Goldson (Hackettstown, NJ / Warren Hills) and Bostic gave Montclair a 72-68 lead with 17 seconds to go.
Chandler sliced that to a point as his three-pointer with 12 seconds made it a 72-71 game. Bostic would make 1-of-2 at the line with seven second remaining to give MSU a 73-71 advantage. With the ball in his hands as the clock wound down, Chandler drew a foul with 2.7 seconds showing and hit both attempts sending the game into the extra period knotted at 73-73.
Flores finished with 19 points and seven rebounds while Goldson chipped in with 12 points, nine rebounds and five steals as the Red Hawks put five players in double figures. Bostic also had 12 points while Rubenstein finished with 10 points. August, who played all 45 minutes, added two assists and three steals.
Brown led all scorers with 23 points and nine rebounds along with three blocks. Julio Rosario (Perth Amboy, NJ / Cardinal McCarrick) had 13 points with Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal) collecting 10 points and eight rebounds.
Both teams return to action on Saturday, January 7 with home conference contests. Montclair State hosts Kean University at 1:00 pm while the Pioneers are also in action at the same time against Richard Stockton.