WAYNE, N.J. – Two free throws by freshman guard Turrell McClendon (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway Tech) with 5.9 seconds remaining allowed the William Paterson men's basketball team (5-1, 2-0 NJAC) to hand Richard Stockton (5-1, 2-1 NJAC) its first loss of the season, 74-72, Dec. 4 at the Rec Center.
The Ospreys erased a 12-point Pioneer lead (69-57, 8:00) with a 15-3 run, finished by a Josh Blamon short jumper off the glass with 39.8 seconds left that tied the game at 72-72. With the shot clock about to expire, McClendon collected the ball and was fouled as he attempted to get a shot off. He drained both free throws, and a turnover by Blamon during the final second sealed the victory for WP.
Junior guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) was 8-for-12 (.667) from the floor and 4-for-7 (.571) from beyond the arc for his game-best 27 points. Senior guard Javae King-Gilchrist (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) posted 17 tallies, five assists and three blocked shots, while McClendon finished with 10 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench. Senior forward Erik Brooks (Saddle Brook, N.J./Paramus Catholic) and sophomore guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) each added nine tallies.
Stockton surged out to an early 16-8 lead at the 13:09 mark as Blamon scored the final five points of a 10-2 Osprey burst, but the Pioneers began to chip away. After Mensah tied the contest at 22-22 with a 1-for-2 trip to the free-throw line with 4:41 on the clock, four lead changes and a tie marked the remainder of the period. Stockton senior guard Rich Suhr's trey at the buzzer made it a one-possession game, 34-32 William Paterson, at the break.
Senior guard Kevin Johnson's three-pointer briefly handed the Ospreys a 35-34 advantage 65 seconds in to the second half, but the Pioneers responded by scoring 10 of the game's next 12 points as Burgos capped the run with a fast-break layup (44-37, 16:19).
When Johnson picked up his fifth foul and second technical of the game with 10:39 to play, the Pioneers had their largest lead of the night at 61-49. Still leading by 12 at 69-57 with 8:00 on the clock, Suhr got the Osprey comeback started with a trey (69-60, 7:32). William Paterson had four missed field goals and two turnovers during the next four minutes until Burgos knocked down a three-pointer from the right wing, making it a 72-66 WP edge with 3:42 left.
Usuwa's second-chance layup (72-68, 3:24) was followed by a Pioneer miss and Stockton rebound. A foul allowed Suhr to cut the lead in half with two free throws (72-70, 2:54), and King-Gilchrist missed the front end of a one-and-one nine seconds later.
A Richard Stockton miss from beyond the arc was followed by a Burgos offensive foul and another Osprey miss from deep. King-Gilchrist had to put up a three-pointer as the shot clock was about to expire and was unable to find the mark with 52.8 seconds to play. Blamon's jumper on the ensuing possession evened the score at 72-72.
Suhr finished as Stockton's leading scorer with 19 points. Usuwa posted 15 tallies and eight rebounds, and Blamon contributed 17 points.
The Pioneers had the better field-goal percentage (27-52, .519 compared to 24-57, .421), but the Ospreys' 12-for-22 (.545) effort from three-point range kept the visitors in the contest. WP outscored Stockton 30-18 in the paint and 17-2 in transition.
William Paterson will next play Saturday, Dec. 7, at Rutgers-Newark at 8:00 p.m.
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