Senior guard Marquis Victor (Lawrence, MA/Central Catholic) added 15 points as the Vikings (8-1) withstood a second-half rally by the Red Hawks and will face Keene State in the championship game of the tournament on Saturday, December 29 at 3:00 pm. Keene defeated No. 24 Calvin College, 73-67 in the other game on Friday.
Freshman guard Tom Bonard (Westfield, NJ / Westfield) had a team-best 17 points off the bench for Montclair State, which dropped to 4-5 with its second straight defeat. MSU will take on Calvin in the consolation game at 1:00 pm.
Salem State jumped out to a 16-2 lead in the first half and led by 17 at halftime, 55-38. A three-pointer by Alex Finn (Ashby, MA/St. Bernard’s Central Catholic) made the score 70-59 in favor of Salem State with 11:34 left before Montclair State embarked on a 13-4 run to pull within two points. A three by Bonard cut the deficit to 72-66 with just over nine to play and Ryan Washington’s (Edison, NJ / JP Stevens) turnaround jumper in the key made it a four-point contest before James Williams (Englewood, NJ / Dwight Morrow) added a layup as MSU trimmed the lead to 74-72 with 7:29 left.
But after calling a timeout, the Vikings turned things around with an 11-3 run of its own. Rawleigh Preaster (Randolph, MA / Randolph) scored on a layup and Victor added a free throw to widen the lead to 77-72. After two foul shots by Steven Celestin (Somerville, MA / Somerville) a three by Victor and layup by Holmes with 4:29 to go gave Salem State an 84-73 lead.
Finn finished with 12 points for Slaem State, which shot 51 percent from the field in the game (34-of-66) while also converting 17-of-21 attempts at the free throw line. Celestin (six assists) and Preaster each had six points apiece while Jeremi Taitt (Boston, MA / West Roxbury) added eight points and five rebounds off the bench for the Vikings.
Freshman Sean Young (Scotch Plains, NJ / SP-Fanwood) and sophomore guard Ken Dudley (Willingboro, NJ / Burlington Tech) each had 11 for Montclair State, which got 10 points from junior Carlos Pena (Clifton, NJ / Clifton). Washington added nine points and nine rebounds with Young snaring seven boards. Bonard handed out six assists and Dudley five as MSU was outrebounded in the game, 42-39.