Dec 12, 2012
Montclair, NJ – Senior guard Ken Rubenstein (South Orange, NJ, Columbia) scored a game-high 18 point, including 10 in the second half, to lead Montclair State University to a 58-48 victory over New Jersey City in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game on Wednesday evening at the Panzer Athletic Center.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Montclair State, which improved its record to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. MSU also stopped a three-game losing string to New Jersey City and have now won six of the last 11 meetings.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Montclair State, which improved its record to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. MSU also stopped a three-game losing string to New Jersey City and have now won six of the last 11 meetings.
New Jersey City, which fell to 2-7 on the season and remained winless in the NJAC at 0-6, jumped out to a 9-2 advantage with 15:32 remaining in the first half. But that lead, which would be the biggest the Gothic Knights would have in the contest, was short-lived.
Montclair State came right back, outscoring New Jersey City 13-1 to give them a 15-10 margin at the 9:44 mark.
With the score tied at 17-17 with 6:11 left in the opening stanza, the Red Hawks went on an 8-2 run to take control before closing out the low-scoring first half, ahead 25-23. MSU, which never gave up the lead in the second half. held an eight-point cushion at 35-27with 14:52 remaining before New Jersey City made several runs at the Red Hawks.
The Gothic Knights trimmed the deficit to one point three times in the second half, the last at 42-41 with 8:05 to play. New Jersey City, which shot just 29 percent from the field, was held to just one field goal over the final eight minutes of play.
Montclair State, which was17-23 from the foul line in the second half, made 10-of-12 from the charity stripe down the stretch, including a string of nine in a row, to help build a double-digit margin and pull away for good. The Red Hawks' biggest lead was at 58-46 with just 59 seconds left.
Freshman guard Khlaid Muhammad (Orange, N.J./Orange) topped New Jersey City with 10 points and senior center David Jones (Millville, N.J./Cumberland Regional) grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Gothic Knights.
Sophomore guard James D'Angelo (Long Valley, NJ, West Morris Central) had a game-high eight assists and freshman forward Kevin McGorry (Rutherford, NJ, Rutherford) added eight points and seven rebounds for Montclair State.
Montclair State is back in action on Saturday when they travel to play Rutgers-Camden in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest at 2 pm.