WAYNE, N.J. – Senior guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) scored a game-high 28 points as the William Paterson men's basketball team (1-0) started its 2014-15 campaign with a 95-88 overtime victory against visiting Brooklyn (0-1) Nov. 15.

Tied at 76-76 at the end of regulation, the teams traded three-pointers to open the overtime, but two Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) free throws, a Bulldog miss and a Burgos fast-break layup made it an 83-79 WP edge with 2:39 remaining. Junior forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) blocked and rebounded a layup by Brooklyn, and sophomore forward Nick Smith (Elmwood Park, N.J./Memorial) pushed it to a seven-point margin with his trey as the shot clock expired (86-79, 1:44).

The Bulldogs never drew closer than five points the rest of the way as the Pioneers went 9-for-12 (.750) at the charity stripe down the stretch.

Burgos was 8-for-16 (.500) from the field for his 28 tallies, while Bridgeman posted 14 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) also contributed a double-double with 10 tallies and 11 boards, and Mensah added 17 tallies to his team-best three assists. Smith chipped in 10 points and sophomore guard Zach Frick (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) had 12.

The Pioneers slowly built a double-digit lead by the 8:20 mark of the first half (25-15), and a three-pointer by Smith at the buzzer handed WP a 44-31 advantage as it entered the locker room.

The Bulldogs scored the first 11 points of the second period, cutting the lead to 44-42 with 15:27 on the clock, and eventually tied it at 49-49 thanks to a Steven Diaz three-pointer at the 13:29 mark. The Pioneers responded with a 14-6 burst (63-55, 9:01), but could not put Brooklyn away as the two teams found themselves knotted at 70-70 with 3:38 left. Junior guard Jamel Gist briefly gave the Bulldogs a 73-70 edge with his trey at the 2:59 mark, but Bridgeman and Mensah put down consecutive buckets (74-763, 1:56), and Mensah turned a Brooklyn turnover into a layup and a 76-73 lead with 1:11 left. Junior guard/forward Egzon Gjonbalaj drained a three-pointer to tie the game at 76-76 with less than a minute remaining, and after a WP turnover, Gist missed another trey as the clock hit 0:00 to send the teams to overtime.

Gist, Gjonbalaj and senior guard Jai Kellman each scored 22 points for the Bulldogs. Senior center Valon Djombalic pulled down a game-best 19 rebounds.

William Paterson will play at Lehman Wednesday, Nov. 19, at 7:00 p.m.

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