Montclair, NJ – Freshman guard JAMES WILLIAMS scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down six rebounds as Montclair State registered a pair of achievements as the Red Hawks knocked off 73-59 at Panzer Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.

CHRIS MCCANN added 12 points and the Red Hawks (15-9, 8-4 NJAC) clinched a berth in the NJAC Tournament for the first time in three years. The win also gave head coach Ted Fiore his 300^th career victory. Fiore is 300-205 in his 19th season of coaching. Fiore is 149-95 in 10 seasons at Montclair State.

Montclair also avenged a 76-61 loss to the Gothick Knights in Jersey City back on January 23.

MSU led for all but a few seconds of the contest grabbing a hold of the game inside the final 10 minutes of the first half. Trailing 10-8 with 10:46 to go, the Red Hawks outscored NJCU 23-7 over the next five minutes. After the teams traded three-pointers, Williams tied the game at 13-13 with nine minutes to go with McCann giving MSU the lead with a three-pointer.

JON GEORGES put one in off the glass for a layup with Williams connecting from downtown giving Montclair a 21-13 advantage with 7:27 left.  CARLOS PENA buried a three-pointer as the lead grew to nine with back-to-back buckets by Georges and KEN DUDLEY making the score 28-15. Following a Gothic Knight field goal, McCann made another three as Montclair State led 31-17 with just under five minutes to go.

MSU would take a 35-23 lead into the break, thanks in part to 7-of-14 shooting from behind the arc.

New Jersey City would erase that deficit in the second half with a 16-3 run taking a 39-38 lead on Dana John's free throw with 12:44 remaining. Three free throws by Josh Lopez four minutes later boosted NJCU's advantage to 51-46. The Red Hawks countered with a 19-2 run with Williams scoring six of those.

Dudley tied the game with a three-pointer with Williams giving Montclair the lead for good, 53-51 with a layup. McCann connected from behind the arc and Georges had three straight making the score 60-53. MSU hit three straight at the line before JOHN BYRNE capped off the run with a layup as Montclair led 65-53 with 2:16 left.

The Gothic Knights did get within six in the final minute, 65-59 on a Kevin Tucker jumper. Montclair sealed it making 5-of-6 at the line. WILL BISHOP put the exclamation point on the victory with a half-court heave at the buzzer.

Dudley chipped in with nine points with Georges tallying eight points and eight rebounds. RYAN WASHINGTON grabbed seven boards in addition to scoring six points.
 
The Red Hawks will look to extend their win streak on Saturday, February 23 when it travels to the Bradley Center in Mahwah to face Ramapo College.