WAYNE, N.J. – Senior guard Sandy Burgos (Fort Lee, N.J./Fort Lee) and junior guard/forward Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, N.Y./Nia Prep) each scored 20 points as William Paterson (21-7) earned an 80-54 victory against SUNY Cobleskill (17-11) in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament March 6 at the Recreation Center.
The Pioneers advance to play No. 9 Virginia Wesleyan (24-5) in the second round Saturday, March 7, at WP at 7:00 p.m. The Marlins defeated John Carroll (20-7) in the first round, 101-86.
WP dominated early during its wire-to-wire victory, building a 25-7 advantage by the 7:50 mark and a 40-25 margin at halftime. The Pioneers shot 55.2 (16-29) percent from the floor and 60.0 (6-10) percent from behind the arc while limiting the Fighting Tigers to a 9-for-24 (.375) effort during the game's first 20 minutes.
That lead remained double digits until Cortell King's dunk pulled Cobleskill to within eight at 57-49 with 6:20 left, but Burgos and junior guard Bright Mensah (Hackensack, N.J./Hackensack) combined to go 6-for-6 from the charity stripe during the next 87 seconds (63-49, 4:53), and then a jumper by junior forward James McLane (Belleville, N.J./Queen of Peace), a Bridgeman layup, a fast-break bucket by junior guard Manny Hernandez (Paterson, N.J./Paramus Catholic) and a Burgos trey put the game away at 72-51 with 2:27 remaining.
Bridgeman added five assists and 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season, and Mensah posted 13 tallies and four steals. McLane finished with 13 points, while senior guard Jaques Conceicao (Massama-Lisboa, Portugal/Francais Charle Lepierre) pulled down 10 boards.
King led the Fighting Tigers with 14 points and eight rebounds.
William Paterson owned a 38-23 rebounding advantage and a 27-15 edge in points off turnovers. WP finished with a .536 (30-56) field-goal percentage and sank nine of its 20 (.450) three-point attempts.
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