Montclair, NJ – Senior forward Steven Breeman scored 21 points with junior guard Keyon Pryce adding 17 as Montclair State enters its holiday break on a high note with an 88-67 win over Misericordia on Saturday afternoon.

Senior forward Irving Callender added nine points and seven rebounds as the Red Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak and evened their record at 5-5.

Junior forward Rodrigo Vani totaled 16 and eight rebounds in a reserve role for the Cougars (3-7), who dropped their second consecutive contest.

The Red Hawks fell behind 23-12 after the Cougars' Matthew Marchetti sank a three-pointer with 12:41 to play. MSU answered with a 23-9 run over the next five minutes. Pryce had nine with five other players adding points for a 35-29 lead with 7:36 left. Montclair State went 8-of-11 from the field during that stretch, including 7-of-9 from behind the arc.

The lead would get to 11 points when Breeman buried a three for a 44-33 advantage with 5:13 to go. Misericordia closed the gap to 46-43 inside two minutes on a Kevin Lazdowsky three, however, Kieran Flanagan, who finished with nine points, drained a three at the other end as Montclair State took a 51-45 lead into halftime.

Leading by six, MSU began the second half with the first 19 points as it kept the Cougars off the board for the first nine minutes of the period. Breeman had eight with Francisco Paulino chipping in with four.  Flanagan got the ball rolling with a driving layup and a three by Devin Cooper make the score 58-45. Paulino added a layup off a turnover with Breeman notching the final seven points, including two three's as the Red Hawks built a 70-45 lead with 12:19 remaining. Nick Hornung finally snapped the spurt two minutes later.

Misericordia would only get as close as 17 points the rest of the way.

Cooper, Amari Mills and Paulino all had six points apiece with Greg Eck adding five. Breeman also had five rebounds with Cooper dishing out four assists in addition to four steals. Montclair shot 45 percent from the field and hit 17 three-point attempts.

Mike Lyons had eight points for Misericordia.

Montclair State returns to action on Wednesday, December 29 in the Blue Jay Invitational at Johns Hopkins. MSU will face Buena Vista in its opening round matchup at 7:00 pm. The tournament, which also features Manhattanville along with host JHU, concludes on Thursday, December 30.