Box Score 

WENHAM, MASS. – The William Paterson men's basketball team (2-1) owned a late lead but could not hold on, suffering its first loss, 68-67 to host Gordon (4-0), in the final of the Gordon College Tip-Off Tournament Nov. 22.

Ahead 41-30 at halftime, the Pioneers saw their lead dwindle to three (56-53, 8:12) before scoring 11 of the next 16 points to pull ahead by nine (67-58) with 4:26 to play. However, William Paterson went cold and the Fighting Scots caught fire, as Gordon made its last five shots and scored the game's final 10 points during the final 2:24. Trailing by three with a minute to play, Aaron Trigg drove the lane and cut the lead to 67-66 on a layup with 10 seconds remaining. After calling timeout, William Paterson attempted a long down-court pass on the inbounds play, but it was broken up by the Gordon defense, and stolen by Brady Bajema. The junior guard led the fast break, dishing to Ben Gaskill for the game-winning bucket with 3.7 seconds left in the game. William Paterson had a last ditch effort for the win, but senior Courtney Nelson's (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) half-court jumper banged off the back rim, giving Gordon the victory.

Nelson scored a team-best 20 points on 8-for-16 (.500) shooting, earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team.  Senior Jordan Fowler (East Orange, N.J./Montclair) and junior Tim Lucas (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) each added 12 tallies for the Pioneers. Lucas and junior Chris Brown (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) tied for the team lead with five rebounds apiece, and junior Bobby Dunn (Garwood, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) also secured a nod to the All-Tournament Team with seven points after posting seven tallies and 12 rebounds against Wesleyan Nov. 21.

Bajema led Gordon with 21 points, Trigg added 17 tallies and Gaskill posted 13 points and a game-best eight rebounds.

Both teams shot the ball well during the game's opening 20 minutes, as WP made 16 of its 29 (.552) attempts and Gordon shot 55.6 (10-18) percent from the field. However, the Pioneers made just seven of 20 (.350) shots during the second stanza, while the Fighting Scots were 11-of-23 (.478), including a 5-for-10 (.500) effort from beyond the arc. William Paterson did make 13 of 14 free throws (.929) to establish a new school single-game record (.923, 12-13, at Montclair State, 2/21/02).

William Paterson will play its home opener Tuesday, Nov. 25, taking on New York City Tech at 6:00 p.m.