WAYNE, N.J. – Senior guard Joseph Taylor (Camden, N.J./Woodrow Wilson) drained a deep three-pointer with 0.2 second remaining to lift the William Paterson men's basketball team (9-9, 5-6 NJAC) to a 78-75 victory against visiting Rowan (11-7, 6-5 NJAC) Jan. 21.

Tied at 75-75, Taylor forced a turnover by the Profs' Shawn Wilson beyond the top of the key with six seconds on the game clock and two seconds on the shot clock. He raced the other way, and a deflection out of bounds gave the Pioneers the ball under their own basket with 3.8 seconds to play. Senior guard Zach Frick (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) looped the inbounds pass over the defense to Taylor, who caught it on the left wing, took a dribble to his left to shake the defender and let the shot fly from five feet beyond the three-point line. It found the bottom of the net with a fraction of a second left, leaving Rowan unable to get a realistic shot off to force overtime.

Taylor eclipsed the 20-point barrier for the third straight game, finishing with a game-best 25 points while adding four assists and two steals. Junior guard George Sapp (Sicklerville, N.J./Timber Creek) collected a double-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, while senior forward Richy Espinal (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) also had a double-double with 14 tallies, 11 boards and three blocked shots. Senior guard Galen Smith (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway Tech) chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.

The Pioneers controlled the action early, building a 29-14 advantage with 9:12 left in the first half, but the Profs responded by scoring 22 of the game's next 28 points to stake themselves to a 36-35 edge with 2:15 remaining. Two Frick free throws and an Anthony Uribe (Hackensack, N.J./Bergen Catholic) layup allowed WP to carry a slim 39-36 advantage into the locker room.

Three lead changes marked the first 90 seconds of the second half, but 11 straight Prof points led to a 50-41 Rowan advantage with 15:02 to play. WP chipped away during the next five minutes, putting together a 12-3 surge to knot the score at 53-53 at the 11:00 mark.

Three lead changes and a tie left it a 60-56 Prof edge with 7:14 on the clock before a Smith three-pointer ignited a 14-2 Pioneer run during the next 3:19, pushing William Paterson out to an eight-point lead at 70-62 with 3:55 remaining.

The Profs were 6-for-6 from the free-throw line (72-70, 2:19) before Taylor hit the first of two attempts from the charity stripe (73-70, 2:05). A Rowan miss and foul led to a pair of Frick free throws (75-70, 1:46), but sophomore guard Nick DePersia answered immediately with a trey to again make it a two-point game at 75-73 with 1:29 on the clock.

A WP turnover and a TJ Booth second-chance tip-in left it a 75-75 score 24 seconds later. The Pioneers missed their next shot and Booth rebounded before Taylor's steal set up the final sequence of events.

Freshman guard Jeff Haddock paced the Profs with 19 points from off the bench. Wilson had 14 tallies, 11 rebounds and five assists, and sophomore guard Rob DePersia added 10 points.

William Paterson will compete Wednesday, Jan. 25, at No. 22 New Jersey City at 8:00 p.m.

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