Washington, DC (3/08/03) -Senior guard BEN MARTINEZ (Scotch Plains, NJ/SP-Fanwood) scored 18 of his career-high 24 points in the second half as Montclair State upended Catholic University, 95-78 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament at the DuFour Center on Saturday evening.

The Red Hawks (23-5) are now headed to the Sweet 16 which will be held on Friday, March 14 at Wooster College in Wooster, Ohio. MSU will face NJAC rival Ramapo for the fourth time this season. Montclair topped Ramapo 86-84 in double-overtime in a classic New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship Game on February 28th as Martinez scored on a layup with 1.9 seconds remaining.
The winner of the game will advance to the Sectional Final on Saturday, March 15 against Wooster of University of Scranton. The Sectional winners move on to the Final Four which will be held on March 21-22 at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, VA.

This is the first time MSU has reached the Sweet 16 since 1984 when the then Indians fell to Upsala, 57-56 in the Quarterfinals - one victory short of the Final Four. Montclair's 23 victories are the most since that season and one shy of the school record of 24 set in the 1968-69 campaign.

For the second straight game, Montclair trailed in the second half, this time by seven points as Catholic's Matt Hilleray score on a layup to make the score 45-38 with 16:43 to play. However, MSU responded outscoring the Cardinals (24-5) 16-4 over the next five minutes.

JOSEPH THOMAS (Linden, NJ/Linden) began the run with a jumper and a MICHAEL DAVIS' (Atlantic City, NJ/Atlantic City) basket cut the deficit to three. Martinez then buried a three to tie the game at 45-45 and after a Catholic basket gave the Cardinals the lead, David retied the game with a short jumper. Martinez then stepped up and drained another three to give MSU the lead for good at 50-47 with 13:53 to play.

William Morley brought Catholic within 50-49 on a layup, but Matinez, who had eight points in the spurt, sank another three for a 52-49 MSU advantage. PIERRE MITCHELL (Newark, NJ/East Side) then capped the run with a layup to make the score 54-49 with 11:50 to play.

Catholic got within 56-55 with 10:56 left as Will Jawando hit a jumper, but MICHAEL GLUCK (Union, NJ/Union) - one of six MSU player to score in double figures -- had a layup and JEROME TRAWICK (Newark, NJ/Clifford Scott) added another basket as the Red Hawks quickly restored the lead to five.

After Catholic, the 2001 NCAA champion, pulled within 66-62 on a Hilleary free throw, Davis and Martinez each added layups to sealed the game for Montclair State as the Cardinals never got as close as seven the rest of the way.

Mitchell finished with a season-high 19 points while Trawick had 16 points and seven rebounds. Thomas and Gluck each posted "double-doubles" as Thomas collected 13 points and 10 rebounds while Gluck added 11 and 10. Davis had 10 points as Montclair State shot 54 percent (20-of-37) in the second half and 51 percent (36-of-71) in the game over overall.

Hilleary had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Catholic, which had its string of five consecutive Sweet 16 appearances snapped. The Cardinals held a 38-36 halftime lead Hilleary and Craig Avallone each had eight points. Trailing 26-23, the Cardinals went on a 13-0 run to take an eight points lead with 3:22 left in the opening half. Montclair then used a 10-2 run to end the half as Trawick had four in the run and Thomas' jumper with 33 seconds left made the score 38-36.