GLASSBORO, NJ – The Rowan University men's basketball team defeated Montclair State University, 95-86 in the semifinals of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament on Tuesday night.
 
The Profs (20-6) are the second seed in the conference tournament and they travel to the top seed New Jersey City University (20-6) for the championship game on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m.  NJCU advanced with a 66-58 win over the fourth seed Ramapo College.  Montclair State (17-10) was seeded third.       
 
Guard/forward Ramon Wright (sr. Newark, NJ/Irvington) led Rowan with a career-high 27 points.  He was 12 for 17 from the floor with three foul shots (five attempts).  The NJAC Defensive Player of the Year collected five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.  Guard DaRon Curry (sr. Deptford, NJ/Phelps School (PA)) contributed 23 points.  He was a perfect eight for eight from the line.  
 
Guard Nick DePersia (sr. Cherry Hill, NJ/Haddonfield Mem.) scored 14 points and hit four three-pointers.  He moved up to sixth on the University's all-time scorers list with 1,408 points. Guard Rob DePersia (sr. Cherry Hill, NJ/Haddonfield Mem.) chipped in with 10 points and center Diante Bah (jr. Mount Holly, NJ/Rancocas Valley Reg.) grabbed nine rebounds.  Forward Austin Kearney (jr. Monroeville, NJ/Gloucester County Christian) added seven points and four boards off the bench.
 
"I thought we did a pretty good job overall," said head coach Joe Crispin.  "At the end of the day, we got enough stops to win.  Rob did a great job throughout and the whole team really did.  We do a lot of things defensively other teams can't do because of Diante and Ramon. They were missing shots at the rim because of those guys and it makes a world of difference.  I thought Austin also did a good job defensively."
 
For Montclair State, guard Akbar Hoffman (jr. Newark, NJ/East Side) totaled 21 points.  Guard/forward Irving Callender IV (so. Somerset, NJ/Franklin) recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Forward Jalen Parham (jr. Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) had 11 points and dished five assists.  Forward/center Eddie Emedoh (jr. Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) compiled seven points and eight rebounds.  
 
Rowan started the final half with a three-point advantage (50-47).  The Profs had a 9-2 run to lead by 10 (59-49) at 17:45 after three straight threes by Curry.  Montclair State cut the deficit to three (65-62) on Callender's jumper at 11:06.  Rowan followed with eight straight points, which made the score 73-62 with 7:59 left.
 
Rob DePersia increased the lead to 13 (75-62) with two free throws at 7:34.  The Red Hawks came back and pulled within six (78-72) at 4:44. Hoffman buried a three-pointer (2:35) and cut the deficit to four (80-76).  After a 7-1 spurt, the Profs were back up by 10 points (87-77) at 0:54. Curry made four points at the line and Nick DePersia nailed a three.  
 
With 30 seconds on the clock, Wright slammed in a dunk and Rowan was up 91-80.  He also sank two fouls shots at the four second mark for the final score.  Curry scored 17 points in the second stanza and Wright had 13.
 
The score was tied five times in the first half and there were three lead changes.  Montclair State's last lead was 25-24 (9:56) after forward/center Jordan Roberson (sr. Union, NJ/Union) hit a jumper.  Kearney's basket put Rowan back on top 27-25 (9:37) then Callender followed with a layup, which tied the score.  The Profs answered with two free throws by Curry (8:16) and guard Ryan Legler (so. Stone Harbor, NJ/Wildwood Catholic) drilled a three-pointer (7:50).  The Profs never trailed for the remainder of the game.  
 
Kearney's layup gave Rowan a 13 point advantage (48-35) with 2:25 remaining.  Montclair State had seven unanswered points and trailed by six (48-42) at 1:14.  Callender contributed with four points and Hoffman had three.  Guard/forward Justin Porter (jr. Ewing, NJ/Ewing) hit a three-pointer (0:46) and Hoffman made a layup (0:14) to pull within three points (50-47) at the break.