Box Score 

EWING, N.J. – A 7-0 run early in the second half helped host The College of New Jersey (8-8, 4-3 NJAC) secure a 70-65 victory against No. 23 William Paterson (14-3, 5-2 NJAC) Jan. 24.

With the loss, the Pioneers dropped into a three-way tie for first place in the New Jersey Athletic Conference's) NJAC North Division with Montclair State (5-2) and Rutgers-Newark (5-2).

Deadlocked at 36-36 after the Pioneers orchestrated an 11-2 spurt late in the first half, the Lions scored the first seven tallies of the second period. William Paterson answered with six unanswered points of its own, including back-to-back buckets by junior guard Tim Lucas (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge), to pull within one (43-42, 14:56), but TCNJ's Adam Gonzalez sparked a mini 7-0 run for the Lions, pushing the home team's advantage to eight at 50-42 with 12:37 remaining.

William Paterson was finally able to make it a one-possession game after Manny Perrotte (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway) capped a 5-0 stretch with his layup at the 2:39 mark, getting the Pioneers to within two at 63-61. WP had two chances to tie the contest, but neither shot would fall, and a foul put the Lions at the line 1:20 later. Jay Frank's two free throws made the score 65-61 with 1:19 on the clock, and junior Joseph Ellis (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) was twice unsuccessful from behind the arc during the next possession, the start of a combined 0-for-4 stretch for the two teams.

Eric Blackmon-Hays made one of two from the charity stripe (66-61, 0:21) before Perrotte converted another layup for the Pioneers, making it a 66-63 score with 13.4 seconds remaining. The Pioneers immediately fouled, but Blackmon-Hayes was perfect from the line (68-63, 0:09) before Ellis drained a jumper with 2.8 seconds to play (68-65). William Paterson was again forced to foul, and TCNJ's Frank finished the Pioneers' comeback hopes with two free throws with less than two seconds left.

Senior Courtney Nelson (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) tied for game-high scoring honors with his 19 points, while sophomore guard Gabriel Paul (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) added 10 tallies. Lucas contributed six points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals for William Paterson.

Frank paced the Lions with 19 points and eight rebounds. Blackmon-Hayes had 11 tallies and four assists.

TCNJ made 19 of 26 (.731) free throws compared to William Paterson's 10-for-13 (.769) effort. The Lions also out-rebounded the Pioneers, 42-30.

William Paterson will next play Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Montclair State at 8:00 p.m.