WAYNE, N.J. – Second-seeded William Paterson (21-5, 14-4 NJAC) will play for the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men's Basketball Tournament title for the third time in five years thanks to a 75-66 semifinal victory against third-seeded Rutgers-Newark (19-8, 14-4 NJAC) Feb. 26 at the Rec Center.

The Pioneers advance to the NJAC Tournament championship game Saturday, March 1, at top-seeded Richard Stockton at 7:00 p.m.

Second-team all-conference junior guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) led all players with 27 points, finishing 8-for-14 (.571) overall, 3-for-6 (.500) from beyond the arc and 8-for-10 (.800) from the free-throw line. Senior guard Javae King-Gilchrist (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck), the NJAC Player of the Year, was limited by foul trouble but still contributed 12 tallies, six rebounds and a game-best nine assists. Sophomore guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) chipped in 13 points and a game high-tying nine boards.

Following a tightly-contested opening eight minutes, the Pioneers gave themselves some breathing room with a Burgos jumper, a wrap-around layup by King-Gilchrist and two Mensah free throws for a 23-13 edge with 9:16 to play. When King-Gilchrist was forced to the bench with his third foul at the 5:00 mark, WP saw its lead begin to slip away thanks to an 8-1 Scarlet Raider burst, cutting it to three (29-26, 3:00).

Freshman guard Zach Frick (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) was fouled, knocking down both attempts from the charity stripe 17 seconds later, and after a Christian Garcia 15-footer, Burgos absorbed contact in the lane and converted (33-28, 1:32), followed by a Garcia miss and a Mensah alley-oop from Frick to make it a 35-28 contest with less than a minute remaining.

The Pioneer defense again came up with a stop, and Frick's layup as time expired ended a 6-0 William Paterson run and gave the home team a 37-28 halftime advantage. Burgos was 6-for-9 (.667) from the field to lead all scorers with 17 points at the break, while Garcia paced Rutgers-Newark with eight tallies.

WP was seemingly in control at 70-59 with 1:55 to play, but junior Chris Foreman drilled a three-pointer 10 seconds later, and when King-Gilchrist was whistled for his fifth foul at the 1:24 mark, sophomore David Azoroh made one of two free throws to cut the margin to seven (70-63, 1:24).

Burgos went 1-for-2 at the stripe six seconds later, but Foreman answered with another three-ball, this time making it a two-possession game at 71-66 with 1:07 left.

A Pioneer turnover gave the Scarlet Raiders the ball back with 56.1 seconds on the clock, but two Rutgers-Newark attempts were off the mark before Frick collected the rebound. He was sent to the free-throw line and hit both (73-66, 38.6).

Three more Scarlet Raider three-point attempts were offline during the next 30 seconds, and Burgos put the finishing touches on the victory with his two points at the charity stripe with 9.3 seconds remaining.

Garcia led Rutgers-Newark with 18 points and nine rebounds. Foreman collected 13 tallies, and Azoroh and junior John Snow each chipped in 10 points.

William Paterson has a trend of playing in NJAC finals during even years, as this marks the fifth straight occurrence (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014). Overall, the Pioneers have played in 13 league tournament championship games, winning 11 NJAC crowns (1972, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1985, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012).