WAYNE, N.J. – Third-place William Paterson (16-5, 10-4 NJAC) distanced itself from first-place Rutgers-Newark (15-6, 11-3 NJAC) for a 74-50 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) men's basketball victory Feb. 6 at the Rec Center.
Just one game now separates the top three teams in the league standings with Richard Stockton sitting in second place at 10-3. Four regular-season games remain before the start of the NJAC Tournament Feb. 22, with the top two teams receiving first-round byes.
The Scarlet Raiders appeared to be gaining control of the contest, using a 10-3 burst for an 18-10 advantage midway through the first half, but the Pioneers got a Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) layup and two straight baskets by senior guard Javae King-Gilchrist (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) to trim the lead to two at the 8:40 mark.
A three-pointer by junior guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) forged a 20-20 tie with 4:29 on the clock, and later back-to-back steals by King-Gilchrist helped make it a 30-24 score with 2:18 remaining. When Burgos drained a 12-footer as time expired, it allowed WP to stake itself to a 33-29 halftime edge. William Paterson made up for 9-for-17 (.529) free-throw shooting by sinking 50 (11-22) percent of its field-goal attempts.
WP exploded for a 16-2 run early in the second half that was ignited by back-to-back threes from King-Gilchrist and Burgos (54-33, 12:08), and consecutive steals by freshman forward Nick Smith (Elmwood Park, N.J./Memorial) gave the Pioneers four quick points and a commanding 62-34 lead with 10:28 on the clock. That margin never dipped below 22 for the remainder of the contest as the Pioneers were on fire from the field, finishing with a .600 (27-45) field-goal percentage and a .727 (8-11) three-point field-goal percentage. For the Scarlet Raiders, the 31.8 (14-44) field-goal percentage and 50 points were both season lows.
King-Gilchrist went 9-for-11 (.818) for his game-best 23 points, adding game highs of seven assists and five steals. Burgos and sophomore guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) each scored 11 tallies, and Conceicao added eight points to his team-best six rebounds.
Junior guard John Snow was the only Scarlet Raider in double figures with 12 points, adding a team-high six rebounds.
William Paterson will visit New Jersey City Saturday, Feb. 8, at 4:00 p.m.
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