The Baruch College Bearcats lost 67-63 to the Pioneers of William Paterson University on Friday afternoon in the ARC Arena.

The Bearcats started strong by jumping out to a 15-4 advantage, but the Pioneers went on a 27-6 run to build a 10 point (31-21) advantage late in the first half.

The Bearcats were forced to play catch up during the second half and found themselves down 55-42 with under 10 minutes remaining.

They slowly chipped away at that deficit with a late rally to get as close as two points on two occasions in the final minutes. The Pioneers responded with timely free throws to hold on for the four point road win in the first meeting between these two teams since 2012.

The Pioneers received a major contribution from their bench with 42 total points.

Chimaechi Ekekeugbor led the Bearcats with a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. William Sixsmith added 13 points and three steals.

Dapo Badmos and Richy Espinal led the visitors from the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) with 14 points each.