Phoenix, AZ - Junior guard LAMONT NEWELL (Lodi, NJ/Dwight Murrow) scored eight of his 22 points in the final three minutes as Montclair State rallied for an 88-78 victory over Goucher College (MD) in the Grand Canyon Trips Sports Classic on Sunday evening.

DUQUAN EVERETT (Orange, NJ/Orange) had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Red Hawks scored 24 of the game's final 28 points to improve to 4-2 on the season. Jonathan Garritt had 22 points for Goucher (5-5), which led by as many as 12 points in the second half.

MSU, which had been off since December 19, trailed by six at halftime and was behind 68-56 with 9:23 to play as Goucher's Garrett Smith hit two free throws. Montclair closed within six, but Goucher restored the lead to 10 with 5:24 left as Smith sank a short jumper for a 74-64 lead.

Montclair then went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 74-73 with four minutes to go. Newell scored on a three-point play and added two foul shots to make the score 74-69. George Tejada (Hackensack, NJ/Fort Lee) hit a short jumper to pull the Red Hawks within three before GIAN PAUL GONZALEZ (North Haledon, NJ/Manchester Regional) threw down a dunk.

Trevor Quinn's jumper made the score 76-73, however, Montclair responded with a 15-0 run to take its first lead of the contest. Gonzalez began the run with a pair of free throws and Newell gave MSU the lead with a three-point play making the score 78-76 with 2:49 left. He then scored on a layup and sank two more free throws with 1:11 left to give the Red Hawks a six-point advantage. Tejada and Everett added two free throws apiece to give Montclair an 86-76 lead with 52 seconds before Tejada capped the run with a layup with 39 seconds.

Newell had 15-second half points and added five assists as Montclair State shot a sizzling 60 percent (14-of-23) from the field in the final 20 minutes and 56 percent for the game. Gonzalez added 18 points and eight rebounds while Tejada had 14 and four assists. The Red Hawks connected on 26-of-36 chances at the charity stripe and outrebounded Goucher, 33-27.

The Red Hawks return to action for their final contest of the 2003 calendar year on Wednesday, December 31 as they complete action in the Grand Canyon Classic with a game against Husson (ME).