Box Score
WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson (14-1, 4-0 NJAC) held off a late Rutgers-Newark (11-4, 3-2 NJAC) rally to earn a 61-57 men's basketball victory in a battle of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) North Division leaders Jan. 13.
The victory was the 12th straight for the Pioneers, and snapped a seven-game win streak for the Scarlet Raiders. In a clash between two of the top defenses in the Division III statistics, it was William Paterson that held Rutgers-Newark to its second-lowest scoring output of the season (53-33 vs. Rutgers-Camden, Dec. 5).
William Paterson rode the hot hand of senior Joseph Ellis (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) during the opening minutes, as he scored 10 of the Pioneers' first 14 points en route to a 14-4 lead (15:26). Rutgers-Newark answered with nine unanswered points, capped by a Ryan Gillens layup, to get within one at 14-13 with 10:43 on the clock. Again ahead by just one (17-16, 4:39), WP put together an 11-2 run for a double-digit lead (28-18, 1:18), and the Pioneers entered the break with a 30-22 advantage.
The Scarlet Raiders got to within six three times during the first five minutes of the second period, but two free throws by Ellis and a 1-for-2 trip to the line by Abdoulaye Ouedraogo (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) later pushed the Pioneers ahead by 11, 44-33, with 9:25 remaining.
Ahead by a 51-43 count with 4:11 to play, William Paterson saw its lead dwindle to three following a James Johnson three and two free throws by Al'Don Muhammad, making it a 51-48 game with 2:23 to play.
A Raider foul on the next possession sent senior Eric Moore (Dover, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) to the line, and he made both to stretch it to a five-point cushion (53-48, 1:57). Rutgers-Newark could not cash in twice at the charity stripe 12 seconds later, and misses by each team were followed by another Newark foul and two successful tries from the line by Ellis (55-48, 1:04).
A Gillens bucket and a WP turnover and foul sent the Scarlet Raiders to the free-throw line, where Johnson was 1-for-2 (55-51, 0:45), but Rutgers-Newark was unable to ever get it to a one-possession game thanks to a long pass and fast-break dunk by Ouedraogo (57-51, 0:35). Sophomore Nolan Hill (Edgewater, N.J./Bergen Catholic) eventually put the game away with two more free throws for a 61-54 edge with less than 10 seconds on the clock.
Ellis posted a game-best 21 points, while Ouedraogo and senior Bobby Dunn (Garwood, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson Regional) each scored 14. Moore led the Pioneers with eight rebounds.
Johnson paced the Scarlet Raiders with 18 points, followed by Muhammad with 10. Despite a 39.1 (18-46) to 32.7 (18-55) shooting percentage advantage for Rutgers-Newark, it was William Paterson's 21-for-23 (.913) effort at the free-throw line that was the difference in comparison to the Raiders' 15-for-26 (.577) shooting.
The Pioneers will host Richard Stockton, the 2009 national runner-up, on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 1:00 p.m.
