WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson (4-3, 2-2 NJAC) rallied from a 12-point first-half deficit to lead by as many as eight during the second period, but Rutgers-Newark (5-2, 3-1 NJAC) scored the final six points of the contest to come away with a 71-66 New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) men's basketball victory Dec. 5 at the Rec Center.

Down by a 33-27 count at halftime, the Pioneers took their first lead of the game at the 14:06 mark of the second period (40-39), part of a 20-6 WP run that eventually made it a 49-41 Pioneer advantage with 12:05 on the clock.

Ahead 53-45 with 10:54 remaining, William Paterson saw its lead begin to slip away during the next three minutes.  Senior Al'Don Muhammad's pair of free throws tied the score at 53-53 at the 8:08 mark, but WP never fell behind during the next two and a half minutes of play, despite two more ties.

Senior Hussein Abdelmaksoud's three-point play nudged the Scarlet Raiders ahead by one (63-62, 5:27), and sophomore Christina Garcia followed with a layup 1:08 later.  Neither team could find the mark again until the 3:00 mark when junior guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) converted a layup, and following an Abdelmaksoud turnover, senior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) turned the miscue into a fast-break bucket and a 66-65 WP advantage with 2:30 to play.

Two Raider misses sandwiched a Pioneer turnover, but Garcia's second-chance tip-in once again put Rutgers-Newark on top, 67-66, with 1:09 remaining.  Brown's three-point attempt was off the mark 22 seconds later and WP elected to play straight-up defensively, but sophomore John Snow made the Pioneers pay when he put down a layup to make it a 69-66 game with 16 seconds on the clock.

Freshman guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) was whistled for travelling with 8.8 seconds left, giving the ball back to the Raiders.  WP was forced to foul and Muhammad made both attempts with 7.8 seconds to play for the final five-point margin.

Freshman guard/forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) led William Paterson with 16 points, tying with Mensah for team-high rebounding honors with seven.  Sophomore guard Manny Hernandez (Paterson, N.J./Paramus Catholic) had 13 tallies and three assists, and Brown finished with 11 points.

Snow paced Rutgers-Newark with 19 points, Abdelmaksoud had 12 tallies and 16 rebounds, Garcia contributed 18 points and Muhammad posted 17 points and eight assists.

The Scarlet Raiders jumped out to a 14-4 lead at the 12:01 mark as WP missed 12 of its first 13 shots of the game, but a 9-0 run got the Pioneers back into it and they trailed by just two at 17-15 with 8:21 on the clock after scoring on four of five possessions during the run.  Rutgers-Newark responded by scoring 10 unanswered points (27-15, 5:11), and the Raiders carried a 33-27 edge into the locker room.

William Paterson will play at Saturday, Dec. 8, at York (N.Y.) at 1:00 p.m.

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