BRONX, N.Y. – Freshman guard/forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) posted his fifth double-double of the season to help lift the William Paterson men's basketball team (6-5) to a 54-48 victory at Lehman (5-5) Dec. 29.
Bridgeman paced the Pioneers with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and senior guard Rick DeStefano (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) contributed 12 tallies. Freshman guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) had 11 points and nine rebounds, and senior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) contributed nine tallies and seven boards.
The Pioneers owned a 20-17 halftime lead but trailed for the first time less than three minutes into the second period (24-23, 17:04). That deficit increased by two less than two minutes later, but Bridgeman's bucket ignited a 7-1 WP burst (30-27, 12:17).
A 14-2 William Paterson run built the largest margin of the game at 44-32 with 4:08 remaining. The Pioneers held the Lightning to 28.3 (13-46) percent shooting, and WP out-rebounded Lehman by a 42-31 count.
Anthony Rodriguez paced the Lightning with 11 points, and Quaseem Weems collected six rebounds.
William Paterson will play at New Jersey City Saturday, Jan. 5, at 4:00 p.m.
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