Glassboro, NJ – The Montclair State men's basketball team outlasted Rowan University 104-100 in overtime to close out the regular season Wednesday.
 
Mike Jackson recorded his first career double-double as Montclair State (21-4, 15-3 NJAC) locked up the No. 3 seed in the NJAC Tournament.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Rowan (20-5, 16-2 NJAC) crept in front 10-9 on a dunk by Connor Dickerson 4:27 into the game before the Red Hawks reeled off five straight points capped by a Greg Eck three-pointer. Kalleem Lambert had two three-pointers midway through the frame, extending the lead to seven.
• The Profs got one point back, and a Steven Breeman three-pointer stretched the gap to double-figures at the 7:37 mark. A 10-0 Profs spurt shrunk the margin to a one-point game with 5:16 left in the opening half.
• Jackson stopped the run with a jumper, and a Keyon Pryce layup made it 35-31. The Red Hawks finished the half on an 8-1 rally, with Breeman contributing two three-pointers during the half-ending run. Montclair held Rowan without a basket over the final 3:42 to take a 43-34 advantage into the break.
• The two sides traded baskets opening the second stanza, with Rowan closing to within a pair after a Ja'Zere Noel three with 14:38 left. Francisco Paulino helped push the lead back to nine, notching consecutive layups before Lambert drilled a three-pointer.
• Three free throws from Josh Wright midway through the frame trimmed the deficit to three for Rowan, and a triple from Eck widened the gap to seven. The Profs got to within two multiple times, but Breeman pushed the score to 88-82 with 3:01 left in the second.
• Rowan took their first lead since the first half on a jumper and two free throws from Andrew Seager, the latter coming with five ticks remaining. After two timeouts, Pryce took the inbound and drove the length of the floor, hitting a layup with .4 on the clock to force overtime.
• Breeman opened the extra session with a three, but Rowan evened the game at 97 on a Damian Smith three with 2:28 left. Jackson and Kieran Flanagan hit two from the charity stripe, putting MSU up 101-98 with 1:01 left.
• After a Seager driving layup, Flanagan was fouled again with 11 seconds remaining, and the junior sunk both. Rowan turned the ball over, and Amari Mills hit one-of-two from the line to seal the win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Breeman registered a game-high 23 points with five three-pointers. He is now tops on the single-season list with 78, surpassing the previous best of 75 set by Akbar Hoffman in the 2018 season.
• Jackson's double-double included 18 points and 14 boards, including seven on the offensive glass.
• Eck and Lambert recorded 10 points off the bench, with Paulino chipping in eight in just seven minutes.
• The 15 NJAC victories matched a program-record set during the 1983-84 campaign.

UP NEXT                                           
The Red Hawks will host No. 6 New Jersey City University in the Quarterfinals of the NJAC Tournament Saturday inside the Panzer Athletic Center at 1 pm.