WAYNE, N.J. – Senior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down a team-best 10 rebounds as the William Paterson men's basketball team (4-1, 2-0 NJAC) cruised past visiting Montclair State (2-3, 0-2 NJAC) for a 78-58 victory Nov. 28.
The Pioneers found themselves trailing by five less than six minutes into the contest (7-2, 14:18), but WP's second group of five came on the floor and quickly evened the contest at 9-9 with 12:37 on the clock. Back-to-back fast-break dunks by Brown and Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) later nudged William Paterson ahead by a 17-16 count at the 7:47 mark, and senior guard Rick DeStefano's (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) three-pointer sparked a 15-4 burst that ended the half and handed the Pioneers a 40-27 advantage.
WP scored the first five points of the second period (45-27, 16:53), but the Red Hawks slowly began to chip away, eventually getting to within seven at 54-47 with 10:20 remaining. A John Yates trey briefly made it a two-possession game (58-52, 7:33), but Brown responded with a jumper, followed by a Julio Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick) 1-for-2 trip to the line and a pair of free throws from Brown (63-52, 6:14). William Paterson finished the contest by scoring 15 of the game's final 19 points for the final margin of victory.
Mensah scored 15 of his 18 points during the first half, adding seven rebounds. DeStefano contributed eight tallies and sophomore guard Najea Brown (Newark, N.J./St. Anthony) chipped in seven points from off the bench.
Yates led the MSU scorers with nine points. Junior forward Ordel Goldson had six tallies and 14 rebounds.
The two teams were even on the glass (43-43), but the Pioneers shot 50.0 (31-62) percent from the field while limiting Montclair State to a 15-for-58 (259) effort.
William Paterson will play at Richard Stockton Saturday, Dec. 1, at 3:00 p.m.
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