Montclair, NJ… A three-pointer by Ryan Jensen (Brielle, NJ/Manasquan) with 1:14 remaining broke an 81-81 tie and The College of New Jersey men's basketball team hung on for a 92-88 victory over Montclair State University. The Lions improve to 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the NJAC, while the Red Hawks fall to 11-5 overall and 5-4 in the conference.
 
TCNJ was hot from behind the arc early as Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton), Randy Walko (Somerville, NJ/Somerville), and Jordan Glover (Trenton, NJ/Lawrence) each hit triples to stake the Lions to an 11-6 lead. Minutes later a Jensen three gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 18-8.
 
A lay-up from Kaan Yilmaz briefly gave the Red Hawks a lead with just under a minute remaining in the first half, but Glover answered to put the Lions on top at the break 43-42.
 
Neither team could make a run in the back-and-forth second half. Neither team led by more than four until the final minute of the second stanza when Walko scored three of his 17 second-half points from the charity stripe to put the Lions up six. Walko and Carpenter each finished with 22 points to lead TCNJ.
 
Montclair State was paced by a game-high 25 points of the bench from Eddie Emedoh, who shot 9-for-11 from the field and 7-for-8 from the line.
 
Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) finished one assist shy of a double-double closing out the game with 16 points and nine dimes.
 
The Lions shot the ball as well as they have in any game this season going 49.1% (28-57) from the field, 46.7% (14-30) from long range, and 91.7% (22-24) at the free-throw line.
 
TCNJ returns home Wednesday, January 17 for a 6:00 PM game against Rutgers-Camden. The game will be the first in a three-game home stand.