MONTCLAIR, N.J. (December 2, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball team dropped a tough New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) matchup on the road against Montclair State University, 73-66. The Scarlet Raiders fall to 2-4 (0-3 NJAC) while the Red Hawks improve to 5-2 (2-1 NJAC).

R-N was led by a season-best 24 points from Tyler Ofray on just 13 shots. The junior shot 46.2% from the field, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, and went 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Classmate Mark Thomas and sophomore Chase Barneys joined him in double-figures with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Thomas recorded a game-best four steals and shared team-high honors with Ofray as they each grabbed five rebounds. Senior Erick Loften-Harris dished out a squad-best four assists.

In a see-saw first half, the lead changed hands an astounding 12 times and the sides were tied on seven different occasions. The Scarlet Raiders held their largest advantage of the afternoon at 10:23 mark when sophomore Tyree Wilson drained a trifecta off a feed from Thomas to cap an 8-2 surge that had the visitors in front 19-14. Still, the Red Hawks came right back to knot the game at 19-19 and from there neither team led by more than one possession.

Twice the home squad was up three but R-N responded with a pair of Ofray freebies and later a lay-in by senior Kenya Brown at the buzzer to send the visitors into the break trailing by the slimmest of margins, 32-31.

The second stanza followed a similar script as there were eight more lead changes and an additional three ties. Rutgers-Newark opened the half by regaining the lead on a pair of Barneys free throws but the edge would be short-lived. Montclair State attempted to start pulling away before a Thomas trey cut his team's deficit back down to one at the 14:40 mark. Still, the Red Hawks began to take control over the next five minutes and took their largest lead of the game, 57-48, with 9:44 remaining.

However, less than 60 seconds later, the visitors were right back in it as Ofray hit a lay-up and Barneys completed a traditional three-point play to cut the deficit to four. The Scarlet Raiders would even regain the lead for a brief period when Barneys capped a 12-2 run by burying a shot from downtown with 5:14 on the clock.

Unfortunately, R-N would have the lead only one more time in the contest when Ofray knocked down a pair of shots from the charity stripe to make it 63-62. MSU closed out the game on an 11-3 surge to earn the victory.

The Scarlet Raiders return to the court for a non-conference matchup at Misericordia on Monday with a 7 p.m. tip-off.