GLASSBORO, N.J. – The No. 14 William Paterson men's basketball team (16-3, 7-2 NJAC) could not maintain its slim lead nearly midway through the second half as host Rowan (9-11, 3-6 NJAC) put together a late surge to pull away for an 85-62 victory Jan. 28.

The Pioneers owned a 38-34 halftime lead and a 51-49 advantage with 11:54 to play before the Profs scored the next 10 points, snatching a 59-51 lead with 8:19 on the clock.  After sophomore forward Erik Brooks (Saddle Brook, N.J./Paramus Catholic) scored a tip-in for WP's first field goal in four minutes (59-53, 7:52), Rowan seized control with a 16-4 burst, surging ahead by a 75-57 count with 3:26 remaining.  Eight unanswered points put the game away for the Profs (83-60, 1:46), as William Paterson shot just 23.3 (7-30) percent during the second half and Rowan was 16-for-27 (.593) during the final 20 minutes.

Junior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) paced the Pioneers with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and classmate Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) had 19 tallies, five boards, four assists and three steals.  Junior guard Rick DeStefano (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) added 10 points and freshman guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) posted six rebounds for WP.

Dee Benson tallied 20 points and 11 rebounds for Rowan, one of five Profs to reach double digits in scoring.  Phil Jackson added 18 tallies.

William Paterson will host Montclair State Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 8:00 p.m.