GLASSBORO, N.J. – In a battle between two of the New Jersey Athletic Conference's (NJAC) top two men's basketball teams, William Paterson (12-2, 7-1 NJAC) came away with an 86-84 victory at Rowan (12-2, 6-2 NJAC) Jan. 17. The win, the seventh straight for the Pioneers, moved WP a half-game ahead of Richard Stockton (6-1 NJAC) for first place in the league standings.

Senior guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) scored a team-best 19 points, adding seven rebounds, and junior forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) posted 17 tallies, seven boards and three blocked shots. Junior guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) finished with 13 points and team bests of eight rebounds and five assists, junior forward James McLane (Belleville, N.J./Queen of Peace) scored 13 tallies and sophomore guard Zach Frick (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) added 10 points from off the bench.

When the Profs took a 23-17 lead eight minutes into the game, their largest advantage of the night, William Paterson fought back with an 11-2 run for a 28-25 edge at the 8:59 mark, then later reeled off nine straight points for a 37-28 lead with 6:06 remaining. A Rowan three-point play during the final seconds cut WP's advantage to 42-39 at the break.

The Pioneers scored the first five points of the second period, but the Profs responded with a 12-0 burst, surging ahead by a 51-47 count with 15:37 on the clock. William Paterson scored the next nine tallies (56-51, 12:52), but the Profs would not back down, erasing a 62-55 deficit thanks to a pair of field goals and four straight free throws, to nudge ahead by one (63-62, 9:16).

Five lead changes and three ties marked the next seven minutes until Burgos drained a three-pointer, handing William Paterson a one-point lead at 78-77 with 2:10 to play. A Rowan turnover led to a Frick trey (81-77, 1:11), and when the Profs connected on a pair of free throws with 57 seconds left, sophomore guard Turrell McClendon (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway Tech) pushed the lead back to four with a layup (83-79, 0:48). Rowan's Mike Simpson needed just five seconds to connect from beyond the arc (83-82, 0:43), but Burgos made the second of two free throws four seconds later. McClendon came out with the ball after a mad scramble for the rebound off a Simpson miss with 28 seconds to play, and Frick later made both attempts from the charity stripe to again make it a two-possession game (86-82, 0:13). Rowan finished the scoring with a layup during the closing moments.

Junior forward Ike Robinson scored a game-best 33 points for the Profs, adding eight rebounds. Simpson chipped in 15 tallies.

William Paterson will host The College of New Jersey Saturday, Jan. 17, at 3:00 p.m.

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