Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. – Senior guard Gabriel Paul (Newark, N.J./Hillside) scored a game-high 24 points as William Paterson (6-4) fended off Lehman (5-5) for a 52-47 men's basketball victory Dec. 17.

Paul was 9-for-15 (.600) from the field, adding a team-best eight rebounds. Senior guard Nick Allan (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) had eight tallies and sophomore Rick DeStefano (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) chipped in seven.

The two teams were tied at 22-22 at the break after the host Lightning led by as many as nine less than nine minutes into the contest. Back-to-back layups by junior Nolan Hill (Edgewater, N.J./Bergen Catholic) and a pair of Paul free throws helped the Pioneers start the second half with a 9-2 run and pull ahead by a 31-24 count with 16:41 showing on the clock. Lehman later erased William Paterson's advantage with a 14-2 surge of its own, building a 42-39 advantage with 6:36 remaining.

Three lead changes during the next three minutes left the two teams tied at 46-46 with 3:38 left, but DeStefano's layup handed the Pioneers a lead they would not relinquish (48-46, 3:19). Allan's jumper made it a two-possession game 70 seconds later, but after Lehman's Chukwuma Ndukwe made the second of two free throws (50-47, 1:53), the two sides combined for two turnovers, three missed field goals and 0-for-4 shooting from the free-throw line until DeStefano drained a pair from the charity stripe with one second left.

Jonathan DeJesus had 10 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, while Samuel Batista contributed 16 points for the Lightning.

William Paterson will return to the court Thursday, Dec. 30, at CCNY at 1:00 p.m.