WAYNE, N.J. – The William Paterson men's basketball team (10-13, 6-10 NJAC) owned a one-point lead with 96 seconds remaining, but visiting The College of New Jersey (17-6, 13-3 NJAC) managed to escape with a 90-85 victory Feb. 8.

With two regular-season games remaining, William Paterson is tied for seventh in the league standings. The top six qualify for the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament that begins Feb. 18.

The Lions stormed out to a 23-10 advantage less than nine minutes into the contest, but behind 12 points from sophomore guard Peter Martinez (Stockton, Calif./Dublin), the Pioneers cut it to a six-point margin at 38-32 with 3:31 on the clock. TCNJ carried a 45-39 edge into halftime as WP committed just two turnovers during the game's first 20 minutes.

Five points from senior guard Zach Frick (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) helped the Pioneers knot the score at 51-51 three minutes into the second half, but a 17-7 TCNJ run allowed the Lions to again create a double-digit lead at 70-60 with 8:52 left.

Trailing 77-66 with 5:31 on the clock, junior guard Dapo Badmos (Toronto, Canada/The Kiski School) contributed six points during a 13-3 Pioneer burst that was capped by a Galen Smith (Piscataway, N.J./Piscataway Tech) three-pointer from the right corner, leaving it an 80-79 Lion lead at the 2:11 mark.

A TCNJ miss and WP rebound led to a foul, and sophomore guard Anthony Uribe (Hackensack, N.J./Bergen Catholic) drained both free throws for an 81-80 William Paterson lead with 1:36 left.

The Lions' Kevin Bloodgood made a pair of free throws (82-81, 1:21) but a foul was committed during the second attempt, and senior guard Joseph Taylor (Camden, N.J./Woodrow Wilson) made the front end of a two-shot trip to the line, creating an 82-82 deadlock at the 1:21 mark. Senior forward Corey Sanford scored a putback layup (84-82, 1:00), and after a Pioneer miss TCNJ's Eric Murdock, Jr. was fouled, and he connected on both shots (86-82, 0:28).

Smith drained a deep three-pointer from the top of the key, pulling WP to within one at 86-85 with 18.6 seconds left. Murdock made two more free throws with 7.5 seconds on the clock (88-85), and an off-balance attempt at the game-tying shot missed the mark during the final three seconds. Two Lion free throws finished the scoring with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Senior forward Richy Espinal (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) led the Pioneers with 16 points, six rebounds and a career-best five blocked shots. Taylor and Frick each notched 15 tallies, Martinez had his first double-digit scoring effort with 13, and Smith contributed 12 points. Badmos matched his career high with 10 tallies.

Stanford paced TCNJ with 17 rebounds while scoring 21 points. Murdock posted 22 tallies and four assists.

William Paterson will compete at Rutgers-Camden Saturday, Feb. 11, at 3:00 p.m.

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