Upper Montclair, NJ - Junior guard JOSEPH THOMAS (Linden, NJ/Linden) scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds as #2 seed Montclair State edged #7 seed Baruch College, 77-72 in the opening round of the 2002 Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Metro Men's Basketball Tournament at Panzer Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

Senior forward OMAR BOOTHE (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) added 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Red Hawks (19-8), who will host sixth-seeded New Jersey City University in the semifinals on Saturday, March 2 at 2:00 pm. New Jersey City advanced with a 76-74 come-from-behind win over third-seeded Manhattanville. It will be the third meeting of the year between the Gothic Knights and Red Hawks. New Jersey City won both meetings - each in overtime - during the regular season (96-94 at MSU on January 16 and 83-81 at NJCU on February 13).

Tied 35-35 at the half, Montclair managed to build a 52-44 lead with 13:45 as Boothe scored on a layup, however the Statesmen (18-10) would not go away, cutting the lead to 61-59 with 6:23 to play as JOE LONGOBARDI (Staten Island, NY/Moore) nailed a three-pointer. MSU would push the lead back to seven at 66-59 as Boothe hit two free throws with 4:54 left.

Two free throws by Thomas with 1:53 to go gave the Red Hawks a 70-64 advantage, but Baruch would close within 73-72 with 13 seconds on an Appelbaum three pointer. Montclair then sealed the game with four straight free throws, two each by HAROLD WILLIAMS (Jersey City, NJ/St. Aloysius) and Thomas.

Williams finished with 15 points - 13 in the second half - for Montclair State, which shot 16-of-20 from the free throw line compared to 6-of-13 by Baruch.