By Eddie Young
Managing Editor
The College’s men’s basketball team pulled off an all-time upset, knocking off undefeated No. 1 Montclair State, 94-85, in both teams’ final regular season game of the season. This is the Lions’ second ranked win this season, giving first year head Coach Evan Elberg a signature win to take into New Jersey Athletic Conference tournament play.
Packer Hall was packed, with an official attendance of 1,618 people, as every seat in the small gym’s bleachers were filled and others were standing huddled together near the entrances. The student section stayed loud from the moment the game tipped off to the moment the final buzzer sounded. The storm watchers were out in full effect, as the student section stormed the court to celebrate with the team when the game ended.
The game was close the entire first half, with the largest lead by either side being seven by Montclair State. Senior big Matthew Solomon, the NJAC’s leading rebounder, dominated the paint early, scoring 14 first half points, really helping to keep the Lions in the game.
Solomon and senior guard Nick Koch, both playing with their Ash Wednesday ashes on their foreheads, usually carry most of the load for the Lions. However, with Koch, the College’s second all-time leading scorer and assister, getting his second foul at the eleven minute mark of the first half, Solomon had to lead the team as Koch sat on the bench for the following ten minutes of gametime.
Koch got subbed back in by Elberg for the final offensive possession in the first half. With everyone in the gym knowing who was going to put the shot up, Koch sized up his defender and shot a stepback three, turning to the College’s student section he was shooting directly in front of as it swished in, giving the Lions a 43-41lead to take into halftime.
Even though the Red Hawks entered this game undefeated, a halftime deficit was nothing they hadn’t dealt with this season, as they had handled four of them in their 24 wins this season. But with Koch getting inserted back to the lineup in the second half, the Lions were able to weather the storm and pull ahead of the nation’s top ranked team. =
A 14-4 run by the College early in the second half, capped off by back to back Solomon and Koch and-one layups, gave the Lions a 10 point lead with 15 minutes to go.
An 8-0 out of a timeout by Montclair State gave the Lions a bit of a scare. The Lions picked up their seventh team foul at the 14-minute mark, putting the Red Hawks in the bonus the rest of the way.
However, some clutch defensive stops without fouling from the team and transition threes from senior guard Jonathan Okocha helped grow the lead to as much as 14 points with just over two minutes to go.
As the clock ticked down, the packed crowd began chanting “start the buses” and “overrated” to the Red Hawks, while also singing “Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!”
With the fans storming the court, the players and the coaches celebrated their upset victory with the whole student body in attendance.
Koch led the team in scoring, putting up 26 points and hitting 11 free throws, helping to ice out the game late.
Solomon didn’t take a seat once the whole game, playing all 40 minutes and stuffing the playsheet as a playmaking hub, scoring 18 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out eight assists.
Okocha also closed out his Lions regular season career on a high note, hitting five threes en route to 21 points on the night.
“It’s a great win,” Koch said of the team’s victory. “ Obviously beating the number one team in the nation just can’t feel any better. But at the end of the day, this win doesn’t mean as much as people think it does. We want to end with an NJAC chip and make a run in the tournament.”
The Lions are locked into the two seed of the NJAC tournament, giving them a first-round bye. They will host the winner of Stockton and Kean in Packer Hall next Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m in the semifinals of the tournament.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” Elberg said. “I don’t want to take away from the win, but none of our goals before the season were to beat Montclair. They were to win the NJAC tournament and make an NCAA run… We have a lot more work to do and a lot more fun to have as a group together.”
