Montclair, NJ – Senior guard Bright Mensah scored a game-high 33 points helping William Paterson to its first NJAC victory of the season as the Pioneers held off Montclair State 78-74 at the Panzer Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.
Richy Espinal added 13 points and five rebounds as William Paterson snapped a two-game losing streak the .500 mark to 5-4 overall, 1-3 in the conference.
Junior guard Erick Loften-Harris had 18 points leading six Red Hawks in double figures however it was not enough to prevent MSU (4-3, 2-3 NJAC) from dropping its third consecutive game. Montclair's last three losses, all in NJAC play, have come by a combined 11 points.
William Paterson took the lead with seven minutes remaining in the first half and carried that through the final 27 minutes as it lead 38-29 at the break and went up by as many as 12 points in the second half as Mensah drained a three for a 49-37 advantage with 16:15 to go.
MSU chipped away at the lead but the Pioneers seemed to have the answer. After getting the lead down to 57-52, Fredrik Hagbarth hit a layup and Galen Smith a three boosting the lead back 62-52 with 8:38 to play. Two free throw by Espinal later gave William Paterson a 64-54 advantage with just over seven minutes remaining before Montclair went on a 13-3 run to tie the game.
Loften-Harris converted a three-point play and later added a layup with 2:39 left bringing the Red Hawks within 67-65. Junior guard Shaun Russell hit two free throws 38 seconds later tying the game at 67-67. Montclair would gain possession after miss by the Pioneers however MSU gave the ball right back on a turnover. William Paterson made that pay as Espinal drilled a three from the left wing for a 70-67 advantage with 49 seconds.
Montclair got the ball back and called a timeout with 38 ticks remaining. Out of the timeout, MSU attempted to inbound the ball in the backcourt however WP's Dapo Badmos stole the ball and was fouled going in for a layup. He hit both from the line extending the lead to 72-67. The Red Hawks missed a chance to get within two missing a pair of free throws and Smith made it a seven-point lead with two foul shots.
Daniel Rodriguez connected from behind the arc for Montclair making the score 74-70. Zack Frick countered with two foul shots with 19 seconds that was answered by Jordan Roberson as MSU stayed alive at 76-72 with 10 seconds to play. Mensah ended any chance for MSU with two free throws with six seconds. Loften-Harris scored at the buzzer for the final margin.
Roberson finished with a double-double for Montclair State scoring 13 points along with a game-high 15 rebounds. Brandon Channer, Russell and Rodriguez each had 11 points. Jaleel Christmon added 10 along with nine rebounds.
MSU had a huge 50-27 margin in rebounds, including 22 on the offensive glass which led to 24 second-chance points. However the Pioneers countered that by committing just six turnovers in the game while scoring 24 off the 16 miscues by Montclair.
The Red Hawks will look to snap their losing streak on Saturday, December 12 when it hosts Misericordia University at the Panzer Athletic Center. Tipoff is set for 1:00 pm.