EWING, N.J. – Sixth-seeded William Paterson (16-11, 9-9 NJAC) did it again, pulling off a second straight New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men's Basketball Tournament upset with a 95-86 semifinal victory at second-seeded The College of New Jersey (19-7, 14-4 NJAC) Feb. 21.

The Pioneers advance to the championship game Saturday, Feb. 24, at top-seeded Ramapo at 3:00 p.m. WP students with ID will be admitted for free. The winner will receive the conference's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament field.

During an 81-78 first-round win at third-seeded New Jersey City (19-7, 13-5 NJAC) Feb. 17, WP opened up a 23-point advantage early in the second half before holding off a late Gothic Knight rally. Against the Lions, William Paterson trailed by 13 with less than two minutes remaining during the opening period, then outscored TCNJ by a 59-41 count during the game's final 20 minutes to secure the victory.

The Pioneers put down 10 of the game's first 12 points, but the Lions responded with a 16-3 run to pull ahead by an 18-13 margin midway through the half, then stretched it to a 42-29 lead with 1:47 on the clock. Layups by senior guard Dapo Badmos and senior forward Richy Espinal, and a three-pointer by senior guard George Sapp, made it a six-point game (42-36) with five seconds left, but TCNJ's Randy Walko banked in a shot at the buzzer from just inside the midcourt stripe for a 45-36 Lion halftime edge.

After 1-for-9 (.111) shooting from beyond the arc during the game's first 20 minutes, WP came out of the locker room firing. Sophomore forward Sean Smith converted a pair of three-pointers during the first 2:11, part of a 12-5 burst to get the Pioneers within two at 50-48 with 16:25 left. When another Walko trey later made it a 62-54 advantage at the 13:49 mark for the Lions, two Smith free throws, an Espinal bucket, a Smith three-pointer and a layup by freshman guard Domenic Mignone were followed by a putback by freshman forward Nasir Fields for a 65-65 deadlock with 10:25 on the clock.

When Mignone found the bottom of the net again, this time with 9:26 to play, it gave William Paterson a 69-67 edge. The Pioneers never trailed again, all told outscoring TCNJ 30-12 during an 11:32 stretch of the second period for an 84-74 lead with 2:17 left. The Lions threatened at 85-80 at the 1:21 mark, but WP went 9-for-10 from the charity stripe during the next 55 seconds to put the game out of reach at 94-86 with 0:26 on the clock.

The reigning ECAC Metro and NJAC Player of the Week, Espinal led all players with 26 points and 14 rebounds, adding four assists and three steals. Badmos contributed 18 tallies, Smith and Sapp each scored 15 points, and Mignone was key to spurring the comeback by scoring all nine of his points during the second half.

Walko posted team bests of 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lions.

The Pioneers improved upon 38.7 (12-31) percent shooting during the first half to convert 20 of 35 (.571) attempts after halftime. WP also committed just four turnovers over 40 minutes, forcing 12 TCNJ miscues for a +18 scoring advantage.

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