WAYNE, N.J. – Junior guard Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) scored a game-best 32 points as the William Paterson men's basketball team (7-0) held off a late Skidmore (3-1) rally for a 75-69 victory Dec. 3.
Chandler was 15-for-17 (.882) from the free-throw line to score nearly half of his 32 tallies, and added a game-high nine rebounds to go along with four assists and three blocked shots. Classmate Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) collected 20 points and seven boards, while freshman guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) had seven tallies.
WP opened up a 13-point halftime lead (43-30) behind 41.9 (13-31) percent shooting from the floor while committing just five turnovers during the opening 20 minutes. That margin quickly ballooned to 21 less than five minutes into the second half (54-33) as the Pioneers made four of their first seven attempts of the period.
A 12-2 run by the Thoroughbreds during a 2:33 span pulled Skidmore within five at 57-52 with 10:37 on the clock. A Conceicao trey briefly got William Paterson's lead back to double digits (64-54, 8:42), but four WP turnovers during its next five possessions allowed Skidmore to get back into it, and Terron Victoria's three-pointer at the 5:11 mark made it a four-point game at 66-62.
Still within two possessions at 71-67 with 2:27 to play, the Thoroughbreds could not get any closer, missing a layup and turning the ball over during its next two possessions. Skidmore was forced to foul, and Chandler and sophomore forward Erik Brooks (Saddle Brook, N.J./Paramus Catholic) combined to go 4-for-4 at the charity stripe for a 75-67 William Paterson advantage with 27.9 seconds remaining.
The Pioneers were 10-for-18 (.556) during the second half to finish with a 46.9 (23-49) field-goal percentage while limiting the Thoroughbreds to a 22-for-63 (.349) effort. WP out-scored Skidmore 34-16 in the paint and 21-6 in transition, compiling a 41-33 rebounding advantage.
Senior Brian Lowry led Skidmore with 16 points, Victoria had 13 tallies, and senior Gerard O'Shea posted 12. Senior Melvis Langyintuo contributed eight tallies and seven rebounds.
William Paterson will host Hunter Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 7:00 p.m.