JAMAICA, N.Y. – Freshman guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) led the Pioneers with 15 points but the William Paterson men's basketball team (4-4) suffered a 69-64 loss at York, N.Y. (5-4) Dec. 8.
The Pioneers were ahead by one, 29-28, at halftime, and built their largest lead of the game at 57-47 with 7:29 to play. The Cardinals reeled off the next nine points of the contest during a 3:14 span (57-56, 4:15), but sophomore guard Manny Hernandez (Paterson, N.J./Paramus Catholic) went 4-for-4 at the free-throw line to stretch WP's lead back to five at 61-56 at the 4:00 mark.
Back-to-back three-pointers pushed York ahead by one (62-61, 2:05), and after misses by both teams, freshman guard/forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to knot the score at 62-62 with 1:03 to play. Donald Rodriguez responded with a trey during the Cardinals' next possession (65-62, 0:37), and he turned a Pioneer turnover into a layup and a five-point lead 21 seconds later.
Mensah converted a layup to once again make it a one-possession game (67-64, 0:10). William Paterson fouled and Du'Quan Lawson missed the front end of the one-and-one, but senior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) turned the ball over after rebounding the miss. York could not find the mark but came out with the offensive rebound, and Michael Trowers made good on the second-chance opportunity during the final seconds for the final points of the game.
Mensah added seven rebounds and four assists, and Bridgeman finished with 11 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots.
Tony Vails led York with 25 points and six assists, and Trowers had 20 tallies.
WP enjoyed a decided field-goal percentage advantage, shooting 48.0 (24-50) percent while limiting the Cardinals to a 25-for-67 (.373) effort, but York owned a 22-8 turnover advantage and a 19-8 edge in points scored off the miscues, all while making 14 three-pointers compared to the Pioneers' four.
William Paterson will host Kean Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 8:00 p.m.
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