RADNOR, Pa. – The Rosemont men's basketball team, fresh off of an upset conference-win over Neumann on Tuesday night, knew that they had a difficult task ahead of them, as they would face a perennially-strong William Paterson Pioneers team who has been given Top-25 consideration this year. The Ravens ultimately wound up on the short end of the 72-68 final score, moving their overall record to 3-2, while the Pioneers improved to 4-2 on the young season.
Things started slowly for the Ravens, who found themselves in a 7-0 hole after the first two minutes, but outscored William Paterson 13-4 over the next 4 ½ minutes to grab their first lead of the game, 13-11 when Marcus Thomas buried a three. Rosemont would continue their run, making it a 19-4 run to grab a 19-11 lead with 11 minutes played. Rosemont retained their eight-point lead with eight minutes remaining, when William Paterson would scratch back with a 13-4 run to grab back the lead, 26-25 with 4:06 left in the half. The Ravens responded immediately with a Thomas jumper and two free throws from Khadim Diaw to re-take a three-point advantage with 1 ½ minutes left in the half. Leading by five points, a last-second layup by the Pioneers' Dapo Badmos ended the scoring in the half with the Ravens in front by three points, 34-31.
The teams would continue to play closely through the first 10 minutes of the second half, as Mekhi Clemons converted a layup to put the Ravens in front by five, 55-50 with 9:37 left. A tip-in from Alex Epps-Ortiz and a layup by Diaw would keep Rosemont in front by five, 59-54 with fewer than eight minutes left. But the Pioneers went on a timely run, outscoring the Ravens 15-3 over the next seven minutes to grab a seven-point lead, 69-62, with 0:41 remaining. The Ravens showed no quit and worked hard in the last minute of the game to get back to within one point, 69-68 with 18 ticks left on the clock, but three late free throws for the Pioneers iced the game.
Marcus Thomas led the Ravens in scoring with 21 points. Jamier Hughes was the top rebounder for Rosemont with nine defensive rebounds.
The Pioneers placed three players in double-figures led by Bright Mensah's 29 points. Terik Bridgeman (13) and Richy Espinal (12) also scored in double-digits for William Paterson.
The Ravens won the rebounding part of the game with a 44-35 advantage, but came up short in shooting percentage, shooting 39.7% from the field compared to William Paterson's 50.9%. In a well-played contest, the Ravens had 12 turnovers and the Pioneers committed 14.
Rosemont will next return home for a CSAC game when they will host the Cairn Highlanders on Wednesday, 12/2 at Alumnae Hall starting at 7:00pm.