Box Score 

WAYNE, N.J. – No. 13 William Paterson (21-1, 10-0 NJAC) secured the top seed in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men's Basketball Tournament with a 72-65 victory against visiting Ramapo (15-6, 6-4 NJAC) Feb. 3. Junior Gabriel Paul (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) scored a career-high 25 points and senior Joseph Ellis (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) added 24 to help lead the Pioneers to their school-record 19th consecutive victory.

With three regular-season games remaining, William Paterson has already locked up the NJAC's North Division title as well as the overall top seed for the conference tournament, and will receive a bye for first-round games played Feb. 20.

A 24-2 run to end the first half helped to transform a four-point deficit (12-16) into an 18-point halftime lead (36-18), as the Pioneers held the Roadrunners to 1-for-8 (.125) shooting and forced eight turnovers during the final 11 minutes of the period. William Paterson then extended that advantage to 24, 51-27, during the first 5:50 of the second half, and was ahead by a 62-42 count with 7:12 remaining before Ramapo mounted a rally of its own, as seven different players combined to score 16 unanswered points to pull the Roadrunners within four (62-58) with 2:36 remaining.

An intentional foul allowed Paul to make one of two free throws (63-58, 2:13), and a missed jumper and offensive putback by senior Abdoulaye Ouedraogo (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) on the subsequent possession handed the Pioneers a 65-58 edge. Turnovers by each team were followed by a missed one-and-one by Paul, but Ouedraogo's offensive board and another Ramapo foul sent Paul back to the charity stripe, where he made both with 1:05 to play (67-58).

Davian Plunkett was 1-for-2 at the stripe (67-59, 0:58), but senior Eric Moore (Dover, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) found a streaking Paul for a fast-break bucket, making it a 10-point game less than 10 seconds later. Another WP foul led to a 1-for-2 foul-shooting effort by Andre Kenny, and the Roadrunners had a chance to cut into the lead again when the Pioneers missed a pair of free throws, but Kenny's jumper was off the mark. Moore stretched the lead back to 11 with two successful free throws (71-60, 0:32), essentially putting an end to Ramapo's upset hopes.

Paul was 10-for-16 (.625) from the field for his career-best 25 points, adding five rebounds and four assists, while Ellis was 9-for-17 (.529) overall and 6-for-12 (.500) from three-point range. Senior Bobby Dunn (Garwood, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson Regional) posted 10 points, six rebounds and six assists, Moore collected eight assists and four steals, and Ouedraogo added four points to his game-best nine rebounds.

AJ LoRusso led Ramapo with 12 points, while Kenny contributed 11. Plunkett posted nine tallies and eight rebounds, and LaQuan Peterkin, the NJAC's leading scorer with 17.6 points per game, had nine points and seven boards.

William Paterson will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Rutgers-Newark at 8:00 p.m.