Ewing, NJ (2/22/03) -Senior guard BEN MARTINEZ (Scotch Plains, NJ/SP-Fanwood) sank a three-pointer from 40-feet as time expired to lift Montclair State to a 62-59 victory over The College of New Jersey in New Jersey Athletic Conference Men's Basketball action on Saturday afternoon.

Freshman guard PIERRE MITCHELL (Newark, NJ/East Side) finished with a game-high 18 points for the Red Hawks, who finished the regular season with a 19-5 record, 13-5 in the NJAC.

Montclair will face second-seeded William Paterson in the opening round of the NJAC Men's Basketball Playoffs on Wednesday, February 26th. MSU will be the #3 seed in the four-team tournament (Ramapo is the top seed, Rowan is the No. 4seed). Montclair finished tied with Rowan for third place, but won the No. 3 seed on a coin flip.

The Championship Game is set for Friday, February 28th at the sight of the higest remaining seed.The winner of the NJAC Tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Montclair State defeated WPU, 45-31 on Wednesday, February 19th at Panzer Gymnasium. This will be fourth time in the last five years that the two teams will meet in the NJAC Playoffs. WPU has won all three previous meetings, including last year, when the fourth-seeded Pioneers topped the No. 1 seed Red Hawks, 66-42. The trip to the NJAC Tournament will be MSU's 12th and second straight. The Red Hawks have not won the conference title since 1982.

Montclair State rallied from eight points down with 5:57 left and took a 59-57 lead with 1:46 to play as JOSEPH THOMAS (Linden, NJ/Linden) hit two free throws. However, the Lions tied the game with six ticks remaining as Bobby Henning scored on a layup.

The Red Hawks took a timeout and inbounded the ball from the right sideline. Thomas flipped a pass to Martinez, who stood just on the other side of the midcourt stripe. Martinez then took two dribbles across the halfcourt line and lofted his shot that hit nothing but the bottom of the net for the win sending the MSU bench into celebration.

Sophomore forward MICHAEL GLUCK (Union, NJ/Union) had 12 points and seven rebounds while Thomas finished with 10 points. Sophomore MICHAEL DAVIS (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City) had 11 rebounds.