Red Hawks Survive Late Surge by Cougars
| Montclair State’s Brandon Channer fires up a three in the first half against Kean. The MSU Red Hawks won 74-64. |
MONTCLAIR, NJ–With a little more than 9 minutes remaining, it seemed like the Red Hawks of Montclair State University were on their way to an easy win over NJAC rival Kean in the conference opener at the Panzer Athletic Center on Tuesday night. Led by Brandon Channer, who scored 25 points, the home team turned a 10-3 deficit with about 12 minutes to go in the first half into a 59-28 lead with 9:44 remaining. It wouldn’t be that easy though as Diego Pulojs and the Cougars wouldn’t go away quietly.
Led by Pulojs, who collected 21 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals in 31 minutes, Kean put together a 29-6 surge over a span of exactly 6 minutes to pull within six at 65-59 with 3:03 remaining. However, Montclair State was able to hang on for a 74-64 victory. Erick Loften-Harris helped preserve the Red Hawk victory with a three pointer from deep on the right wing at the 2:38 mark for a 68-59 lead. Jordan Roberson followed that up with a putback from the right low block at the 2:02 mark for a 70-59 MSU advantage. Justin Watson hit a three from the right wing for Kean to close the gap to single digits again at 70-62 with 1:07 remaining, but the Cougars were unable to get any closer.
The differences in this game were three point shooting and rebounding. Montclair State held huge advantages in both departments. According to the stats provided by Kean Athletics, the Red Hawks shot 11 of 29 from beyond the arc for just under 38 percent while the Cougars were only 2 of 16 for 12.5 percent. Channer and Loften-Harris alone combined to go 9-15 from long distance for the Red Hawks. On the boards, Montclair State outrebounded Kean 46-32 overall including a 15-7 edge on the offensive glass. Channer turned in an outstanding effort for MSU.
In 30 minutes playing time, the junior from Manchester, Jamaica by way of Harcum College, connected on 9 of 15 shots from the floor including 6 of 10 from three point range, and made a free throw for his 25 points while also collecting 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals. Loften-Harris chipped in with 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting overall including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc while also picking up 8 assists and 6 rebounds in 31 minutes. Shaun Russell also scored in double figures for Montclair with 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting in addition to collecting 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block.
Mike Diamond also scored in double digits for Kean with 11 points on 3 of 7 shooting from the floor and a perfect 5 of 5 from the charity stripe. Diamond also picked up 2 rebounds, an assist, and a steal. Pulojs, who starred at Barringer of Newark, connected on 8 of 16 shots from the field including a three while making all four of his foul shots. Starring for the GMC in this contest was Colonia’s Jodrell Thompson, who collected 9 points and 4 rebounds in 29 minutes of action. Thompson scored 7 of his points over the last 6:02 of the game including two free throws, a three point play, and a layup.
The game had a couple big swings of momentum with Montclair State’s 56-18 surge over a span of 23:41 being the difference. Kean opened the game by scoring 10 of the first 13 points over the initial 6:35. Pulojs scored 7 of his points during the span while Diamond added a field goal and Thompson chipped in with a free throw. Then, Montclair State took over with a 31-7 tear over the next 11:29 to take a 34-17 lead. Highlighting the run was six threes by the Red Hawks including four from Channer, who scored 14 of his points during the run. Loften-Harris added 8 points while Russell chipped in with 7. Kean managed three field goals during the stretch. Micah Kerr wrapped up the first half with a three point play to draw the Cougars to within 34-20.
The second half started out much like the first half had ended with Montclair State scoring 25 of the first 33 points. Middlesex’s Jared Bogus opened the scoring with a baseline jumper from the right side while Russell added a transition layup for a 38-20 lead. MSU scored 9 of the next 11 points including another three by Channer and a breakaway dunk by Wilson for a 47-22 lead before the Cougars got their first field goal of the second half. Over the next 3:33, Montclair outscored Kean by a 12-6 margin as the Cougars only managed one field goal. The Red Hawks got a layup and a three pointer from Jordan Roberson as well as a conventional three point play by Jahvan Rosbia for a 59-28 lead with 9:44 remaining.
Kean appeared to be down and out at this point, but the Cougars roared back with a tremendous rally. The run started innocently with the visitors from Union making 6 of 6 from the foul line over a span of 46 seconds. Pulojs then got the run really rolling with an alleyoop pass from the right wing to Jerry Crismond, who threw down a two handed dunk for a 59-36 Montclair State lead with 8:09 remaining. Over the next 40 seconds, Pulojs, who did a great job of pushing the tempo down the stretch for the Cougars, scored two layups in transition to close the gap to 59-40. Crismond then added a layup to pull the Cougars within 17 before Channer struck from the left wing with a three for a 62-42 lead with 6:34 to go.
Over the next 2:28, Kean reeled off 13 straight points including a pair of free throws by Diamond and Thompson, two layups by Pulojs, a three point play by Thompson, and a layup by Watson to cut the deficit down to single digits at 62-55 with 4:06 to play. After Channer converted a traditional three point play with 3:51 remaining for a 65-55 MSU lead, Crismond made two free throws at the 3:41 mark, and Pulojs banked in a runner from the right side to pull Kean within six at 65-59 with 3:03 left on the clock. The Cougars rally ran out of gas though as Montclair State finished the game on a 9-4 run for the 10 point win. With the victory, the Red Hawks improved to 3-0 on the young season including a 2-0 mark in the NJAC while Kean dropped to 0-5 overall including an 0-1 record in conference play.
GMC NOTES: Besides the efforts of Colonia’s Jodrell Thompson (9 points and 4 rebounds in 29 minutes for Kean), there were two other former GMC players that participated in the contest. Middlesex’s Jarrett Bogus started for Montclair collected 2 points and 4 rebounds in 13 minutes while Spotswood’s Tom Soulias tallied 4 points, 3 rebounds, and a steal in 27 minutes of playing time. So far this season, Soulias has played and started in all five games for Kean and is averaging 17.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game. Thompson has played in all 5 games including 4 starts for the Cougars. The Kean freshman forward is averaging 6.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.0 assists per game so far this season. Bogus has played and started in all 3 games for Montclair, and he has averaged 14.7 minutes, 5.3 points, and 4.0 rebounds per game.