Newark, NJ – Senior guard Daniel Singleton (Neptune, NJ, Neptune) scored 23 points while senior forward Ordel Goldson (Hackettstown, NJ, Warren Hills) became the 25th player in program history to score 1,000 points however those efforts would not be enough as sixth-seeded Montclair State fell to No. 3 seed Rutgers-Newark 81-73 in the first round of the NJAC Men's Basketball Tournament on Saturday.

Junior guard James D'Angelo (Long Valley, NJ, West Morris Central) chipped in with 12 points for MSU, which saw its season end at 11-14. with its third loss to the Scarlet Raiders this season as Rutgers-Newark now advances to the semifinals on Wednesday at No. 2 seed William Paterson University.

MSU was looking to avenge those two losses and grabbed a four-point lead early in the game as D'Angelo scored on a layup for a 9-5 lead with 15:41 to play. However the Scarlet Raiders turned the tables and led 19-14 before another burst widened the lead to 34-23 with 4:03 to go in the first half.

The Red Hawks chipped away at the lead getting within four twice the last coming at 46-42 with 25 ticks remaining on two free throws by D'Angelo before a basket by Rutgers-Newark at the buzzer gave the hosts a 48-42 advantage at the break.

Goldson, who entered the game with 999 career points, reached the milestone with 16:57 left in the half as he connected on the second of two free throws.

In the second half, the Scarlet Raiders pushed the lead back to double-digits but Montclair got a three-pointer from Kris Bergstol (New City, NY, Clarkstown South) and layup by Singleton to get back to 56-52. The sequence of the Scarlet Raiders building a big lead only to see the Red Hawks battle back continued throughout the half with MSU making one last push in the closing minutes.

Trailing 77-71, Goldson scored on a layup cutting the deficit to four points. But that 77-73 deficit would be as close as the Red Hawks would get as Rutgers-Newark hit 4-of-6 from the line for the final margin.

Goldson added 10 rebounds for his 11th double-double of the season and the 26th of his career. He became the first MSU player to scored 1,000 points since Gian Paul Gonzalez during the 2005-06 campaign and finished his career with 1,012 points and joined Bob Gleason (1964-68) and Mike Oakes (1965-69) as the only players in school history to record over 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in a career. Goldson (701 rebounds, 86 blocks, 100 steals) is also the only player to achieve those marks while also recording over 100 career steals and 80 blocks.  He also shot .525 from the field for his career which is eighth-best on the MSU career list.

Singleton, who added two rebounds, three assists and two steals in the game, also finished off a fine career with 740 points and 101 assists in three seasons. Singleton averaged 22 points per game down the stretch to help MSU make its first NJAC Tournament in three years and 17th overall. His .561 field goal percentage this season ranks in the Top 20 on the Red Hawks single-season list.