Box Score 

WAYNE, N.J. – Junior guard Manny Perrotte (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) poured in 12 second-half points off the bench, helping to lead the William Paterson men's basketball team (5-1, 1-0 NJAC) back from a 10-point deficit to a 48-45 victory against Rowan (3-5, 1-1 NJAC) Dec. 6 in the Pioneers' New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opener.

William Paterson owned a 17-14 advantage after a gritty and defensive-minded first period, one that saw the two teams shoot a combined 13-for-44 (.295) from the floor and 17.6 (3-17) percent from behind the arc. The Profs' Tyson Hartnett came out of the locker room firing, scoring the first eight points of the second half (22-17, 18:05), and Rowan eventually built a 10-point lead at 31-21 midway through the period. Following a Perrotte three-pointer, the game's next seven points all came from the charity stripe, until another Perrotte trey cut the lead to five at 35-30 (7:36). Perrotte's layup and a Gabriel Paul (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) floater pulled the Pioneers to within one (35-34, 5:38), but Rowan's Dan Reddan converted a jumper in the lane and Kevin Darby drained a field goal from the left wing, again making it a five-point contest (39-34) with four minutes on the clock.

Senior Courtney Nelson's (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) three from the left corner found the bottom of the net, and Perrotte's fast-break layup after an ensuing Rowan miss tied the score at 39-39 (3:08). Prof Billy Care's layup and another Perrotte score, followed by a Paul fast-break bucket and two Hartnett free throws, squared the contest at 43-43 with 1:33 to play. Nelson sliced through the lane for a layup and a 45-43 William Paterson advantage with 40 seconds remaining, but Hartnett connected on a 15-footer on the right wing for the eighth tie of the contest at 45-45 22 seconds later. During the Pioneers' next possession, Nelson attacked the rim from the right side of the lane and was fouled. He made the front end of the two-shot trip (46-45, 6.7 seconds), and junior Bobby Dunn (Garwood, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson) came up with the most important of his 10 rebounds on the miss, allowing WP to hold on to the possession. Senior Jordan Fowler (East Orange, N.J./Montclair) was sent to the line with 1.5 ticks remaining and made both free throws of the one-and-one opportunity, making it a three-point spread. Dunn then broke up Reddan's long inbounds pass at the top of the key to end the game.

Perrotte led the Pioneers with his 12 tallies, while Paul had eight points and eight rebounds, and Nelson scored eight. Dunn collected a team-best 10 rebounds to go along with four points, and Fowler chipped in five tallies and six caroms.

Hartnett paced the Profs with his game-best totals of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Reddan posted eight tallies and six caroms, and Care added seven points.

William Paterson will host York (N.Y.) Wednesday, Dec. 10, at 7:00 p.m.