Wayne, NJ – Junior forward Jarrett Bogus scored 14 points off the bench while Jovanni Chatham added 13 and seven rebounds as Montclair State completed a season sweep of local rival William Paterson with a 71-66 win at the WPU Rec Center on Wednesday evening.
Justin Porter and Jordan Roberson added 12 and 11 points respectively as the Red Hawks picked up a key NJAC win in improving to 11-10 on the year. More importantly, MSU upped its record to 8-6 in league play, tied with Rowan for fourth place in the standings. The top 6 six teams qualify for the NJAC Tournament which begins later this month.
The win tonight against the Pioneers was Montclair's third straight and the 99th in the all-time series between the two schools. MSU, which leads the all-time series 99-74, won both regular-season meetings in the same season for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign.
A three-pointer by Porter snapped a 6-6 tie as the Red Hawks built a 14-8 lead with 10:43 left on a layup by Brandon Channer. William Paterson battled back and took a 25-22 advantage with 3:37 to go before MSU responded with a 10-0 run to take lead. Chatham tied the game with a three and Bogus put Montclair State in front 27-25. Bogus hit two from the line and a layup by Porter gave the Red Hawks a 31-25 lead with 1:57 to play before halftime.
Leading 34-27 at the break, Montclair held on to the lead until an eight-point run by the Pioneers (10-11, 6-8 NJAC) gave the hosts a 55-51 lead with 7:56 left. Channer knotted the game at 61-61 with 2:49 to go with two free throws and then gave MSU the lead with a layup with 2:13 remaining.
Porter scored four straight points for Montclair extending the lead to 67-62 with 58 seconds. Chatham added two more at the foul line with a free throw by Isaiah Channer putting Montclair up 7-64 with 16 ticks left.
Eddie Emedoh finished with six points and a team-high 11 rebounds for MSU, which shot 21-of-29 at the foul line compared to 14-of-20 by the Pioneers. Roberson had eight rebounds with Chatham and Bogus each getting seven as Montclair outrebounded WPU, 53-22 including 17 offensive boards.
Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, February 4 when it hosts Stockton University at 3:00 pm. The Red Hawks will look to avenge a 71-67 loss to the Ospreys back on Monday evening.