CAMDEN, N.J. – A late 9-2 burst helped carry the William Paterson men's basketball team (9-7, 4-5 NJAC) to an 84-79 win at Rutgers-Camden (3-12, 1-8 NJAC) Jan. 13. Senior forward Richy Espinal (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) led four Pioneers in double figures with 17 points.
 
Espinal added 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Senior guard Dapo Badmos (Toronto, Canada/The Kiski School) and sophomore forward Sean Smith (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) each scored 16 tallies, and freshman guard Domenic Minone posted 10 points from off the bench.
 
After allowing the Scarlet Raptors to shoot 61.9 (13-21) percent from the floor, the Pioneers entered the locker room trailing by a 35-31 count. Rutgers-Camden pushed its advantage to nine at 48-39 three minutes into the second half, but WP scored the game's next 13 points for a 52-48 edge at the 13:28 mark.
 
Five lead changes and two ties marked the next three minutes before 12 unanswered Pioneer points made it a 68-59 score with 7:50 to play. The Scarlet Raptors fought back to within one (70-69, 4:45), but Badmos responded by scoring seven of the game's next 11 points to give William Paterson some breathing room at 79-71 with 2:41 on the clock.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored the game's first nine points en route to a 22-10 advantage midway through the opening period. A Badmos three-pointer briefly made it a one-point game (30-29, 2:03) before three Charlie Riccardi free throws helped the Scarlet Raptors build a four-point halftime edge.
 
WP shot 67.7 (21-31) percent overall during the game's final 20 minutes, including a 6-for-9 (.667) effort from behind the arc.
 
Junior forward Isaac Destin led Rutgers-Camden with 25 points and seven rebounds.
 
William Paterson will host Ramapo Wednesday, Jan. 17, at 8:00 p.m.
 
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