Senior guard Jamal Ford (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) had a career-high 21 points as the Red Hawks (8-6, 5-4 NJAC), who defeated the Profs for the fourth straight time and second in nine days. MSU recorded a 98-87 overtime win over the Profs in Glassboro in January 7. Matt Byrnes (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) had 37 points and eight rebounds for Rowan (9-6, 3-6 NJAC). Gonzalez and Byrnes entered the day as the NJAC’s No. 1 and No. 2 scorers, respectively.
The game featured 11 ties and 14 lead changes. Gonzalez, who went 17-of-18 from the charity stripe, also broke Bob Gleason’s 1966 record of 53 consecutive foul shots in the second half as he made his first 10 attempts to give him 58 straight. His next attempt with 9:20 left in the game would have tied the NCAA Division III record, however, the ball rattled in and out. It was the senior’s sixth 30-point game of the season.
Tied 43-43 at the half, Montclair State would get the lead to five with 14:15 to play as Maurice Torres (Summit, NJ/Summit) drained a three-pointer – one of 13 in the game by MSU – for a 61-56 lead. But the Profs would eventually retake the lead as Billy Care (Linwood, NJ/Mainland Regional) hit two free throws with 9:41 left for a 67-66 Prof lead. Gonzalez then tied the with a foul shot 20 seconds later and Jonathan Arthur’s (Maplewood, NJ/Columbia) three-pointer with 8:46 to play gave the Red Hawks the lead for good.
Arthur would extend the lead to 77-72 with a jumper at the 6:13 mark but Byrnes trimmed the lead to 79-78 as he hit from behind the arc with 3:39 left. Arthur answered with a three-pointer of his own for Montclair and Byrnes connected twice from the foul line to make the score, 82-80, however, freshman Corey Wilburn (Franklin, NJ/Rutgers Prep) delivered the key basket, a three-pointer from the left side with 1:29 left to give Montclair an 85-80 advantage. MSU then closed out the game by making its final six free throw attempts.
Arthur finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, three blocks and three steals for MSU, which got nine points from Torres and seven points from Wilburn. The Red Hawks shot 50 percent (14-of-28) from the field in the second half and 13-of-17 attempts at the foul line. Montclair, the league’s top free-throw shooting team, was 26-of-32 from the line for the game.
Care finished with 16 points for the Profs while Thomas Baker (Millville, NJ/Millville) posited 13 points and six rebounds. Kevin Darby (Atco, NJ/Hammonton) had six points and six rebounds.
Rowan returns to action on Wednesday, January 18 as they travel to Rutgers-Newark for a 7:30 tip in the NJAC contest. Montclair State is home that evening as the Red Hawks entertain Kean at 8:00 pm.