MONTCLAIR, NJ – Rutgers-Newark junior guard Pedro Burgos scored a game-high 27 points, but Montclair State held off the Scarlet Raiders for an 82-72 New Jersey Athletic Conference win in the Panzer Athletic Center.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Burgos made 10 of 17 field goal tries while pulling down a game-high eight rebounds, but the Raiders piled up 29 personal fouls while trying to claw their way back into the game. Junior forward Jeremiah Rivers fouled out with nine points and five rebounds while five other Rutgers-Newark players finished the contest with four fouls apiece. MSU made 25 of 37 free throws to out-score the Raiders by 10 points at the charity stripe and spell the difference in the game.

Sophomore guard Al'Don Muhammad finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots while junior guard Greg Moore dropped in three of six 3-point jumpers on his way to 15 points and a game-high three steals.

Junior guard Chris Diaz came off the bench for five points, but the Red Hawk bench out-scored their counterparts, 11-6.

Junior forward Andrew August paced the Red Hawks with 14 points and seven rebounds while senior guard Rodney Freeney added 17 points, two assists and two steals. Sophomore guard A.J. Larkin hit two of five shots from beyond the arc on his way to a dozen points and a game-high six assists. Seniors Tyrone Prewitt and Tom Bonard netted nine points apiece for MSU.

Down 67-47 with 5:59 remaining, the Raiders rallied to trim the deficit to 70-62 with 2:38 remaining on a jumper by Burgos. That was as close the Rutgers-Newark would get as Montclair State made 10 of 13 free throws down the stretch.

Burgos poured in 17 first-half points, hitting all six of his free throws, to keep Rutgers-Newark (14-4, NJAC 4-3) within striking distance, but the Red Hawks were torrid on the other end of the floor. Montclair State (14-4, NJAC 4-2) shot 53.6% (16-28) from the floor and made 10 of 12 free throws to grab a 43-30 halftime lead.

Freeney score six points during a 16-1 Red Hawk spurt which made the score 19-5 with 6:54 left in the first half. Prewitt, who had five points during the run, capped the rally with a conventional 3-point play. The Raiders pulled to within six points on a layup by Burgos with 4:46 left in the half, but Montclair State answered with a 9-0 spree to push the Red Hawk lead to 39-24 with 2:03 remaining.

Rutgers-Newark travels to Richard Stockton on Saturday for an NJAC doubleheader. The men tip off against the Ospreys at 1 p.m. with the women to follow at 3 p.m.