WAYNE, N.J. – William Paterson (10-5) surged ahead in overtime and held off a late Brooklyn (3-9) rally for an 86-79 men's basketball victory Jan. 14. Freshman guard/forward Terik Bridgeman's (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) compiled his sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-best 17 rebounds for the Pioneers.
Sophomore forward James McLane's (Belleville, N.J./Queen of Peace) wide-open three-pointer from the left corner handed WP a 69-66 edge with 2:35 remaining in the second half, but Kavon Barker answered with a trey of his own from the top of the key 30 seconds later. The two teams traded misses until Barker turned it over when he was called for a charge with 27.5 seconds left. The Pioneers had a chance for the game winner, but senior guard Julio Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick) missed a jumper and tracked down his own rebound, during the final seconds, and senior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) saw his three-pointer go long as the horn sounded.
Sophomore guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) grabbed the opening tip and raced down court for a dunk to start the overtime, followed by a 1-for-2 trip to the line for Barker. Conceicao then drained a three-pointer from the left wing (74-70, 3:43), and a Steven Diaz miss from behind the arc was followed by a three from the top of circle by senior guard Rick DeStefano (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro), making it a 77-70 score with 2:59 remaining. After William Paterson made three of four free throws during the next minute, Baker pulled the Bulldogs to within five with his three-point play (80-75, 46.0). Sophomore guard Manny Hernandez (Paterson, N.J./Paramus Catholic) went 1-for-2 at the stripe three seconds later, but Steven Grant's short jumper in the lane made it an 81-77 game with 30.8 seconds to play. Hernandez was again fouled, this time making both (83-77, 27.5), before Grant again scored from close range with a layup (83-79, 19.0). Brooklyn was forced to again foul and Brown made the first of two (84-79, 17.3). The Bulldogs pulled down the rebound but Grant's attempt was no good, and Hernandez was fouled after collecting the rebound. He made both with 5.9 seconds on the clock to ice the game.
Brown added seven rebounds to his team-best 19 points, while Bridgeman was 7-for-11 (.636) from the floor while posting new career highs in both points and rebounds. Conceicao scored 12 tallies and DeStefano added 11.
Baker paced the Bulldogs with 32 points, and Egzon Gjonbalaj had 16 tallies and 10 rebounds.
The Pioneers spotted Brooklyn an early 17-7 lead less than six minutes into the contest, but eight points off the hot hand of Brown helped WP engineer a 13-1 run that handed it a 20-18 advantage at the 11:05 mark. Three consecutive three-pointers, two from Brown and the middle bucket by freshman guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack), made it a 31-24 Pioneer advantage with 7:01 on the clock, and William Paterson owned a 38-33 edge at the break.
That lead grew to as many as 11 (46-35, 1:27) for the Pioneers during the second half, but the Bulldogs' 13-2 run got them back into the game and handed them a 62-59 advantage with 6:21 remaining in regulation.
William Paterson will play at The College of New Jersey Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 8:00 p.m.
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