WAYNE, N.J. – The William Paterson men's basketball team (6-0, 2-0 NJAC) won the battle of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) North Division two preseason favorites when the Pioneers defeated visiting Ramapo (5-2, 0-1 NJAC), 82-71, Nov. 30.

The current NJAC Player of the Week, junior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) posted team bests of 25 points and nine rebounds for WP, picked to finish second in the league's North preseason poll.  Junior guard Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) had 19 tallies, seven rebounds and four assists, and freshman guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) chipped in 16 points.

The Pioneers entered the locker room with a six-point lead, 33-27, after shooting 44.8 (13-29) percent from the floor compared to the Roadrunners' 25.9 (7-27) percent effort during the opening minutes.  Despite its overall advantage from the field, William Paterson made just three of 10 (.300) free throws, while Ramapo was 11-for-16 (.688) to keep the game within reach.

The Roadrunners made it a four-point margin after two Will Sanborn free throws during the first 30 seconds of the second half (33-29), but Chandler immediately answered with a three-pointer, the start of an 11-4 WP run that led to a 44-33 advantage with 17:09 on the clock. 

The lead grew to as many as 18 four different times during the next 15 minutes, including a 73-55 score with 2:53 to play when Brown emphatically dunked a putback. 

The Pioneers were even more efficient from the field following the intermission, converting 19 of 33 attempts (.576) while limiting Ramapo to 39.4 (13-33) percent shooting.  WP owned a 40-18 advantage in points scored in the paint and a 39-13 edge in bench scoring for the game.

Sanborn scored 30 points and collected four assists and four steals to lead the Roadrunners, who were picked to win the NJAC North and overall titles in a preseason vote of the league coaches.  Junior guard Garret Thiel tallied 15 points, and senior Demetrius Boards added nine points to his 10 rebounds.

William Paterson will host Skidmore Saturday, Dec. 3, at 3:00 p.m.