WAYNE, N.J. – A dominant second half allowed the William Paterson men's basketball team (2-1, 1-0 NJAC) to overcome a halftime deficit and post an 81-64 victory against visiting Rutgers-Camden (2-1, 0-1 NJAC) in both teams' New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) opener Nov. 22.

Down by seven (37-30) at the break, WP traded baskets with the Scarlet Raptors for the first five minutes of the second half until senior guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) hit a jumper in the lane and sophomore guard Turrell McClendon (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway Tech) drained a pair of free throws and then converted a layup, knotting the score at 48-48 with 14:04 to play. Junior guard/forward John Tatem answered with a fast-break layup for Rutgers-Camden, but Burgos had back-to-back buckets (52-50, 13:12), then senior guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) and junior guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) drained consecutive three-pointers, making it a 58-50 game with 11:17 to play. That was the start of a 24-7 run that eventually handed WP a commanding 76-57 lead with 2:21 on the clock.

Burgos scored a game-high 22 points, while Mensah posted 17 tallies and a game-best nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Zach Frick (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) contributed 14 points and a game-high five assists, McClendon finished with 10 tallies and eight boards, and Conceicao also nearly had a double-double with nine points and eight rebounds.

The Scarlet Raptors led by as many as 13 points twice during the final four minutes of the first half, but the Pioneers were able to muster eight of the final 10 tallies to pull within seven, 37-30, at halftime. Senior guard Wyatt Polk led all first-half scorers with 17 points for Rutgers-Camden.

Polk finished the game with 19 tallies and six rebounds, and junior guard Julian Martin had 13 tallies and six boards. Sophomore guard Davis Graham chipped in 12 points.

William Paterson will play at Ramapo Tuesday, Nov. 25, at 7:30 p.m.

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