JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Senior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) poured in a career-high 34 points as the William Paterson men's basketball team (7-5, 4-3 NJAC) got past host New Jersey City (4-9, 0-7 NJAC), 69-64 in overtime, on Jan. 5.

The Gothic Knights led by as many as 16 (44-28, 15:41), and owned a 49-39 edge with 8:59 remaining in the second half.  Back-to-back three-pointers by Brown cut that lead to four (49-45, 8:18), and following a NJCU bucket, he converted a layup, and his steal 70 seconds later led to a Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) bucket and a 51-49 Pioneer deficit with 6:21 on the clock.

The New Jersey City lead hovered between two and four for the next three minutes, but Mensah's layup knotted the score at 55-55 with 3:11 remaining.  Dakwan Simmons' two free throws nudged the Knights ahead by two (57-55, 2:37), followed by freshman guard/forward Terik Bridgeman's (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) dunk 26 seconds later that again evened the scoreboard.

The two teams traded baskets before Simmons was awarded three free throws, making two for a 61-59 NJCU advantage with 0:37 on the clock.  Mensah was fouled four seconds later but could make just one of his two attempts (61-60), and a Jersey City turnover, a WP miss and Simmons' miss of the front end of a one-and-one followed during the next frenetic 10 seconds.

Brown was sent to the charity stripe and made the first of two attempts to again knot the score, this time at 61-61 with 13 seconds left.  NJCU rebounded the second shot but promptly turned it over, and a final turnover by William Paterson in the waning seconds sent the two teams to overtime.

The Gothic Knights scored the first three points of the extra time, but WP responded with a layup and a later free throw from sophomore guard Manny Hernandez (Paterson, N.J./Paramus Catholic), tying the game at 64-64 with 2:12 remaining.  New Jersey City's turnover allowed Brown to hand the Pioneers a 66-64 lead with his layup at the 1:18 mark.  He rebounded a David Cole miss 30 seconds later, giving William Paterson the ball back.  Unaware that the shot clock was about to expire, Hernandez was forced to put up a desperation shot, and his three-pointer from nearly 40 feet out banked in and made it a 69-64 score with 18 seconds remaining to essentially seal the win.

Brown was 12-for-17 (.706) from the field for his 34 points, adding a game-high 11 rebounds.  Mensah made all four of his attempts for nine points, while Hernandez finished with nine tallies and sophomore guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) contributed eight points and seven boards.

Simmons and Khalid Muhammad each scored 16 points for New Jersey City.  Cole posted 10 tallies.

William Paterson will visit Ramapo Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 7:30 p.m.

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