Ewing, NJ – Sophomore guard ERICK LOFTEN-HARRIS scored 16 points and added three rebounds and three assists however The College of New Jersey handed Montclair State its first loss of the year with a 72-58 win over the Red Hawks on Saturday.

Shaune Russell had 15 points for MSU (2-1, 0-1 NJAC), which could not overcome and early eight-point deficit.

The Lions scored the first eight points of the game and were able to hold off several MSU rallies in the first half. Montclair pulled within 20-19 with 7:56 remaining on two free throws by Loften-Harris, who was 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.  TCNJ's Jayson Johnson responded with back-to-back layup restoring the lead to 24-19 and a three-pointer by Skyelar Ettin gave the Lions an eight-point advantage with 6:05 to play.  New Jersey led 36-29 at the break.

In the second half, TCNJ would get up by as many as 12 points before Montclair State whittled the lead back to 58-54 on a Loften-Harris layup with 6:37 left.  But after a series of misses by both teams, Ettin connected on consecutive three-pointers boosting the New Jersey lead to 64-53 with 3:19 remaining.

LAVRONE GREEN had seven points while DANIEL RODRIGUEZ added six off the bench for MSU. CHRIS TORRES grabbed a team-high eight rebounds for the Red Hawks.

Montclair State is back in action on Tuesday, November 25 when its travels to Union, NJ to face Kean University at 8:00 pm.