Jermont Horton (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) had 20 points and Justin Carter (Paterson, NJ/Don Bosco Tech) added 17 as the Scarlet Raiders (13-8, 6-6 NJAC) won for the third time in their last four games and gained a split of the season series between the teams. The win avenged a 60-51 loss to MSU at the Golden Dome just nine days ago.
Al Hawkins (Linden, NJ/Elizabeth) had 13 points for Montclair State (12-8, 7-5 NJAC), which led by five a halftime before a cold second-half shooting performance sent the Red Hawks to their second loss in their last three games.
In a game that featured seven ties and seven lead changes, Rios, who had just two points in the game until the final 1:40, took a feed in the corner and drained the long three to put Rutgers-Newark up, 49-48. Carter then hit 1-of-2 free throws to make the lead two points with 49 seconds left. Montclair State had a chance to tie with 34 ticks to go, but Hawkins made only 1-of-2 leaving Montclair a point behind. Carter added two more free throws to give the Scarlet Raiders a 52-49 lead with 19 seconds left. The Red Hawks had one last chance, but Cliff Schafer’s (Califon, NJ/Voorhees) three-point attempt with three seconds left did not go.
Horton grabbed eight rebounds while Chinedu Ibeh (Colonia, NJ/Colonia) had five rebounds.
Gian Paul Gonzalez (No. Haledon, NJ/Manchester) had 12 points and four rebounds for Montclair State, which managed just 6-of-21 shooting over the final 20 minutes. Michael Gluck (Union, NJ/Union) added 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Horton scored 14 points in the first half, including the first eight Rutgers-Newark points as the Scarlet Raiders fell behind 28-23 at intermission. But the Scarlet Raiders quickly erased the deficit in the opening three-plus minutes of the second half as Ibeh and Horton each scored on layups to pull Rutgers-Newark with 28-27. Carter then put the Scarlet Raiders in front with a layup at the 16:18 mark.