NEWARK, NJ | The Rutgers University-Newark men's basketball squad suffered their first NJAC loss of the season tonight to Montclair State University, 62-59. The loss at The Golden Dome, is the Scarlet Raiders' first NJAC loss of the season which drops them to 8-4, 5-1 while Montclair improves to 6-5, 2-4.

The Scarlet Raiders were led by Dante Ralph's 16 points on 60% shooting while Quincy Rutherford added 12 of his own. Jordan Salisbury brought energy to the Scarlet Raiders when stepping onto the court and scored 9 points and led the team with 10 rebounds. 

Steven Breeman poured in 19 points while Devin Cooper slashed his way to 14. As a team, Montclair shot 33.3% (8-24) from three-point range, while holding the Scarlet Raiders to just 15.8% (3-19) from the same distance. 

The Red Hawks took early control of tonight's New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) bout with an 8-2 run at The Golden Dome. Montclair's suffocating press puzzled the Scarlet Raiders for the entire first half which led to 11 first half turnovers. Abe Kromah knotted the game up at 10 when he wiggled his way to the hoop for an easy layup. Jamir Patterson followed that up with a driving layup to give his squad their first lead of the half until Mike Jackson of Montclair cashed in from behind-the-arc to give the Red Hawks a 13-12 lead. 

Montclair responded with a 9-2 run which put them in the driver's seat for the remainder of the first half. Rutgers-Newark battled their way back to cut the lead down to just a pair, however, Montclair went on another 9-1 run over a four-minute span to take a 10 point, 30-20, lead into the half. 

In the second stanza, Montclair pushed their lead out to 15 before the Scarlet Raiders began to chip away at it. With 12 minutes remaining, the Scarlet Raiders used a 9-1 run to cut the lead down to just seven. Montclair, however, put an end to Rutgers-Newark's run and took control back to go up 14 on a layup by Keyon Pryce. 

Jordan Salisbury converted a pair from the charity stripe before Quincy Rutherford hit from deep to put the Scarlet Raiders within two with 2:32 remaining in the contest. During the final two minutes, neither team was able to convert a field goal until there were 9 seconds left. Kromah gave the Scarlet Raiders a chance by quickly getting to the rim to bring them within two. A foul by Rutherford sent Steven Breeman to the line where he would convert one of two to give Russell Ayala a chance to send the game into overtime with a three-point shot. Ayala's chance would miss the mark to hand Rutgers-Newark their first NJAC loss of the season.

Up Next:
The Scarlet Raiders will head south to take on Rowan University in another NJAC clash on Saturday, January 8 at 3:00 pm.