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MAHWAH, N.J. – Within one possession with 1:41 remaining, sixth-seeded William Paterson (16-12, 9-9 NJAC) saw its fairy-tale run through the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men's Basketball Tournament come to an end with a 67-59 championship-game loss at top-seeded Ramapo (21-6, 15-3 NJAC) Feb. 24.
 
Already with two upset victories to its credit at third-seeded New Jersey City in the first round Feb. 17 (81-78) and at second-seeded The College of New Jersey in the semifinals Feb. 21 (95-86), the Pioneers very nearly did the same in the final.
 
The Roadrunners owned their largest lead of the game at 45-31 with 15:11 remaining in the contest, but WP began to chip away, scoring 16 of the next 22 points to get within four at 51-47 with 8:08 on the clock.
 
Ramapo stretched it back to a seven-point advantage twice during the next 69 seconds before senior forward Richy Espinal (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) completed a three-point play and sophomore forward Sean Smith (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) drained a three-pointer for a 56-55 score at the 6:02 mark.
 
The Roadrunners reeled off six straight points, but the Pioneers responded with an Espinal steal and layup, then a quick cut to the weak-side block and finish by freshman guard Domenic Mignone (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) to make it a 62-59 game with 1:41 to play.
 
However, those were William Paterson's final points of the game as the Pioneers missed their last four attempts and Ramapo went 5-for-6 (.833) from the free-throw line to secure the championship.
 
Espinal led WP with 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Smith scored 12 points and Mignone added 10.
 
The Pioneers started the game with a 6-2 burst before Ramapo put together a 10-2 run for a 22-13 advantage at the 9:59 mark. William Paterson scored nine of the next 11 points, seven of those coming from Smith, to get within two at 24-22 with 6:40 remaining, but the Roadrunners' 11-2 burst helped them enter the locker room with a 35-26 edge.
 
Ramapo shot 18-for-22 (.818) from the charity stripe compared to WP's 7-for-7 effort, and outrebounded the Pioneers by a 50-27 count. The Pioneers committed just 10 turnovers compared to the Roadrunners' 21 for an 18-7 advantage in points scored off the miscues.
 
Senior forward Thomas Bonacum led Ramapo with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore guard Patrick Peterson added 13 tallies and eight boards from off the bench.
 
William Paterson now awaits the announcement of the ECAC Tournament field on Monday, Feb. 26.
 
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