JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University fell behind No. 22 ranked William Paterson University, 39-30, with 13:42 to play in the second half before erasing the deficit with a game-tying 13-4 run. But the Pioneers used a 45-29 rebounding advantage to overcome a poor shooting night and 10 Gothic Knight blocked shots as WP nipped NJCU, 62-59, in New Jersey Athletic Conference men's basketball action on February 9 at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.
William Paterson (19-3, 13-2), which moved up from No. 25 to No. 22 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 national poll earlier in the afternoon, shot only 30.8 percent from the field (16-52) and 26.7 percent from behind the arc (4-15), but camped out at the foul line, making 26-of-33 attempts for a 78.8 percentage. The +17 rebounding margin paid off for the Pioneers which owned a 16-4 differential on second chance scoring. WP has won three in a row and 14 of its last 15 games.
The loss snaps NJCU's four-game winning streak and drops the Knights to 9-12 overall and 7-8 in the NJAC. More importantly, the loss drops NJCU back into a tie with Ramapo College (7-8 NJAC) for the final berth in the conference tournament with three league games remaining. Both teams are one game back of Rowan University and The College of New Jersey at 8-7 in the standings. NJCU split the regular-season series with Ramapo, Rowan and TCNJ; Ramapo owns the tiebreaker by virtue of a win over second-place Richard Stockton—NJCU's next opponent.
The loss spoils an outstanding effort from junior shooting guard David Cole (Avenel, NJ/Colonia) who notched a game and career-high 20 points off the bench in 28 minutes. He shot 7-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, and netted 14 in the first half.
NJCU (11 turnovers) forced the Pioneers into 21 giveaways, outscoring WP 23-13 off miscues. Its bench outscored the Pioneer reserves, 26-8.
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