Red Hawks Are Heading to the Dance!

For the first time in 20 years, the Montclair State University men’s basketball team has earned a bid to the Division III Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The Red Hawks earned one of 20 Pool-C at-large bids and advanced to the New Jersey Athletic Conference Semifinals for the third consecutive season. Montclair will face Hamilton College out of the NESCAC at a four-team pod hosted by Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins will face Mitchell College in their opening match Friday. Montclair and Hamilton will meet at 3:30 p.m. Friday, with Johns Hopkins and Mitchell squaring off at 6 pm. The two winners will battle Saturday at 6 p.m.

Montclair State University sits at 22-5 on the season, with the 22 victories being the most since the last tournament team, 2002-03, notched 23. The Red Hawks went 15-3 in the NJAC this season, matching the record set during the 1983-84 season. The team is making their seventh appearance in the NCAA Tournament, posting a 6-6 mark in 12 tournament games.

STEVEN BREEMAN was named the NJAC Player of the Year, while head coach Justin Potts was tabbed as NJAC Coach of the Year. Breeman led the Red Hawks with 17.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, hitting 81 three-pointers.

Breeman set the single-season record for three-pointers with 81 and became the career leader in the NJAC Quarterfinals against New Jersey City University when he hit the 168th of his career. In the Red Hawks’ 69-64 triumph over TCNJ on January 28, Breeman
recorded his 1,000th career point before scoring his 1,000th point in a Montclair State jersey on February 11 against Kean. The senior recorded four double-doubles, including back-to-back double-doubles against Ramapo (January 4) and Stockton (January 7). Breeman netted 20+ points in 11 games and exploded for a career-high 30 against Rowan on January 11.

This post first appeared on the Athletics website. Check back there for a full preview later this week.