WAYNE, N.J. – Junior guard Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) scored 15 of his game-high 25 points during the second half as William Paterson (4-0, 1-0 NJAC) defeated The College of New Jersey (1-2, 0-1 NJAC), 75-69, Nov. 22 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) men's basketball opener for both schools.

In a tightly-contested first half that featured 12 lead changes and seven ties, neither team led by more than four points.  The Pioneers out-rebounded the Lions by a 23-12 count, but 1-for-10 (.100) shooting from three-point range limited WP's scoring total.  William Paterson tracked down a miss of its own trey during the final seconds, but Kyle Cancillieri blocked another WP three-point attempt at the top of the key, and Donovan Smalls banked in a trey at the buzzer, handing TCNJ a 34-33 halftime lead.

It was more of the same during the second period as the Pioneers and Lions traded the lead 15 times during a 15:50 span.  After Matthew Rista handed TCNJ a 66-65 advantage with his three-pointer at the 4:26 mark, Brown answered immediately with a trey from the left corner, giving WP a two-point edge at 68-66 just 16 seconds later.  It was a lead that William Paterson would not relinquish, as freshman James McLane (Belleville, N.J./Queen of Peace) followed with a layup (70-66, 3:20), junior Julio Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick) went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line (71-66, 2:22) and McLane put back a Pioneer miss to stretch the margin to seven (73-66, 0:57).  William Paterson put the game away when junior Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) knocked down a pair of free throws with 32.2 seconds remaining, making it a two-possession game at 75-69.

Brown had a double-double, adding a game-best 12 rebounds and four steals to his 25 tallies.  Chandler had 15 points, three steals and a game-high five steals, and freshman Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) finished with 10 tallies and nine boards. 

Rista led TCNJ with 18 points, senior Dan Bucher had 10 tallies, and Cancillieri contributed nine points and a team-best six rebounds.

William Paterson will host FDU-Florham Saturday, Nov. 26, at 5:00 p.m.