Jan 23, 2013
Montclair, NJ – Senior forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) scored a game-high 23 points, including 13 in the second half, to lead William Paterson University to a 60-43 victory over Montclair State University in a New Jersey Athletic Conference contest Wednesday evening at the Panzer Athletic Center.
Brown, the reigning NJAC Player of the Year, also grabbed 11 rebounds in his "double-double" performance. William Paterson, which won for the ninth time in its last 10 games, improved its record 13-6 overall and 8-4 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference. This was the Pioneers' third straight win against MSU and marks the second time in the last four seasons that WP has swept the season series. Montclair State still leads the all-time series by a commanding 95-70 margin.
The game saw 11 lead changes and the score tied six times, including eight and four, respectively, in the first half.
Montclair State, which dropped its record to 5-13 on the year and 2-10 in the NJAC, lost its third straight game and for the seventh time in eight games. MSU held the biggest advantage of the opening stanza at 17-12 with 10:40 remaining. The Red Hawks broke open an 8-8 deadlock by using a 9-4 scoring run, including three points by freshman forward Kevin McGorry (Rutherford, NJ, Rutherford), who had 10 of his 13 points in the first half
William Paterson stayed close with the help of Brown and was ahead 23-22 with just 1:11 to play before intermission. But junior forward Ordel Goldson (Hackettstown, NJ, Warren Hills), who topped Montclair State with 14 points and 13 rebounds, made a steal and drove nearly the length of the floor for a layup with two seconds left to give MSU the lead back at halftime, 24-23.
WP used long-range shooting to break the game open in the second half. With the score tied at 31-31 with 16:43 left, the Pioneers scored the next 11 straight points to start a 17-4 scoring spree which gave them a commanding 15-point bulge at 50-43 with 8:14 to go. William Paterson made four 3-pointers in the surge, including three by senior guard Rick DeStefano (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro), who scored all 12 of his points in the game from behind the arc
The Pioneers never looked back and increased their margin to as much as 18 points at 60-42 with just 28 seconds on the clock. Freshman guard-forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) chipped in 10 points for William Paterson.
Montclair State and William Paterson are back in action on Saturday with both teams hosting New Jersey Athletic Conference matchups. MSU plays Rutgers University-Camden at 1 pm while William Paterson meets Rowan University at 3 pm.