Jan 30, 2019
WAYNE, N.J. – Junior Sean Smith (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) scored all 18 of his points after halftime as William Paterson (12-9, 7-7 NJAC) kept its New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) playoff hopes alive following an 83-76 win over Rutgers-Newark (11-10, 4-10 NJAC) Jan. 30.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Anthony Uribe's (Hackensack, N.J./Bergen Catholic)and-1, coupled with Malcolm McLeod's (Teaneck, N.J./Eastern Christian) three-pointer, helped the Pioneers open an early 8-2 lead. Deadlocked at 10-10, back-to-back buckets from Nasir Fields (Winslow Twp., N.J./Winslow Twp.) highlighted a 7-0 run for WP. RUN would rally to take a six-point lead (32-26, 4:48) before Domenic Mignone (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) and Myles McLeod (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) would each connect on a trey to tie things up as William Paterson held a slight 42-39 edge at intermission.
- As the second stanza began, Smith began to heat up byopening the period with a pair of baskets. With the score deadlocked at 59-59, a trio of jumper, two from Smith and another from Malcolm McLeod (Teaneck, N.J./Eastern Christian), pushed William Paterson ahead by four, 65-61, while consecutive three-pointers by Mignone and Smith extended the lead to eight, 75-67. Newark was able to make it a four-point affair (78-74) late, but four Smith free throws iced the game and propelled the Pioneers to the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Nasir Fields (Winslow Twp., N.J./Winslow Twp.) scored a career-best 16 points on 7-of-8 (.875) shooting from the field, while Myles McLeod (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) contributed 13 tallies in 26 minutes. Mignone led all players with seven assists to go along with 10 points and Anthony Uribe(Hackensack, N.J./Bergen Catholic) added six dimes and nine points.
- Malcolm McLeod (Teaneck, N.J./Eastern Christian) and Justin Lingat (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) finished with nine and eight points, respectively.
- Coupled with a Stockton loss to Rowan, WP moves into the 6th place in the NJAC standings with just four games remaining.
UP NEXT:
- The Pioneers battle Kean on Saturday, Feb. 2, at 3:00 p.m.
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