NEWARK, NJ – Junior guard Pedro Burgos poured in a game-high 27 points as Rutgers-Newark held off the College of Staten Island, 75-68, in the opening round of the ECAC D-III Metro Men's Basketball Championship.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Burgos netted 15 second-half points, hitting five of seven free throws, while sophomore point guard Al'Don Muhammad made six of six from the line as the Scarlet Raiders (18-7) made 14 of 17 charity tosses to stave off the Dolphins (17-11).

The fourth-seeded Raiders will host eighth-seeded New York University which toppled top-seeded St. Joseph's LI, 107-93, in the semifinal round on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in The Golden Dome.

Muhammad finished with a dozen points, seven rebounds, a game-high nine assists and a career-high three blocked shots while Burgos added four rebounds, and three assists. Junior forward Jeremiah Rivers had 10 points and six rebounds while junior forward Noah McCoy contributed seven points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.

Junior forward Jordan Young led a balanced CSI attack with 21 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Dale Taranto notched 12 points, a game-high eight rebounds and seven assists for the Dolphins while reserve guard Bloochy Magliore tallied 11 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Burgos, who ranks fourth in the NCAA D-III ranks in 3-points field goals per game, two in each half to help keep the Raiders ahead of the Dolphins.

After Rutgers-Newark led by as many as 12 points in the opening period and by 38-30 at the half, CSI refused to surrender as Jordan netted 14points. A 3-point jumper by Taranto with 57 seconds left trimmed the Raider lead to 71-68. But Burgos and Muhammad each sank a pair of free throws in the final 17.2 seconds to hold off the upset bid by the fifth-seeded Dolphins.

Rutgers-Newark won despite playing without sophomore Hussein Abdelmaksoud, who had become the inside leader for the Raiders over the past month, after the 6-foot-6 center broke a bone in his foot in practice on Tuesday.  He is out for the remainder of the tournament.

The Raiders advance to the ECAC Metro semifinals for the fourth time in the last seven seasons, but Rutgers-Newark has not reached the title game.  NYU knocked the Raiders out in the semifinal round in 2007 and 2009.