Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. – William Paterson (11-6, 3-3 NJAC) had a pair of chances to force overtime with three-point attempts during the final 30 seconds, but neither would fall as the Pioneers suffered a 54-51 men's basketball loss at Rutgers-Camden (4-13, 2-6 NJAC) Jan. 22.

Trailing by five at 52-47 with 4:24 remaining, junior Robert Whetham (North Haledon, N.J./Passaic Valley Regional) was fouled after a pair of WP misses, and he went 1-for-2 at the line to make it a 52-48 contest with 3:03 left. The two teams traded turnovers and misses from the floor, followed by a 0-for-2 trip to the charity stripe by the Scarlet Raptors' Alex Rislin. Junior Paul Siljee (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) rebounded the second miss, and 15 seconds later sophomore Rick DeStefano (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) drained a three-pointer to pull the Pioneers within one, 52-51, with 1:07 on the clock.

Woody Redding put back his own miss to push Rutgers-Camden ahead, 54-51, with 26 seconds remaining. Siljee's miss from beyond the arc resulted in an offensive team rebound, and his second miss was pulled down by junior Joey Castro (West Paterson, N.J./Passaic Valley Regional). However, Castro turned the ball over with six seconds to play, and when WP was forced to foul and Redding missed the front end of a one-and-one with two seconds left, Rutgers-Camden came up with the rebound and burned the remaining time off the clock.

The Scarlet Raptors jumped out to a 24-8 lead midway through the first half, but William Paterson answered with a 21-3 run, and owned a 29-27 advantage with 1:50 remaining in the opening period. Rutgers-Camden scored the game's next five points, and went into the break with a 33-31 edge. After WP knotted the score at 36-36 less than five minutes into the second half, the Raptors reeled off an 11-0 run for a 47-36 score with 11:53 to play.

Seniors Gabriel Paul (Newark, N.J./Hillside) and Nick Allan (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) each scored 11 points for William Paterson. Castro had nine tallies, and Siljee finished with eight points and a team-best six rebounds.

Ali Noorzad scored a game-high 12 points for the Raptors. Redding added 11 tallies, seven assists and eight steals. WP turned a 32-18 advantage in turnovers into a 34-12 edge in points off the miscues, but Division III's third-best team in terms of field-goal percentage defense (.366) was undone by the Scarlet Raptors' 51.4 (18-35) percent effort.

William Paterson will play at New Jersey City Monday, Jan. 24, at 8:00 p.m.