Wayne, NJ: No. 13 William Paterson (21-1, 10-0 NJAC) secured the top seed in the upcoming New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men's Basketball Tournament with a 72-65 victory against visiting Ramapo (15-6, 6-4 NJAC) Feb. 3. Junior Gabriel Paul (Hillside, N.J./Hillside) scored a career-high 25 points and senior Joseph Ellis (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) added 24 to help lead the Pioneers to their school-record 19th consecutive victory.
With three regular-season games remaining, William Paterson has already locked up the NJAC's North Division title as well as the overall top seed for the conference tournament, and will receive a bye for first-round games played Feb. 20.
A 24-2 run to end the first half helped to transform a four-point deficit (12-16) into an 18-point halftime lead (36-18), as the Pioneers held the Roadrunners to 1-for-8 (.125) shooting and forced eight turnovers during the final 11 minutes of the period. William Paterson then extended that advantage to 24, 51-27, during the first 5:50 of the second half, and was ahead by a 62-42 count with 7:12 remaining before Ramapo mounted a rally of its own, as seven different players combined to score 16 unanswered points to pull the Roadrunners within four (62-58) with 2:36 remaining.
An intentional foul allowed Paul to make one of two free throws (63-58, 2:13), and a missed jumper and offensive putback by senior Abdoulaye Ouedraogo (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) on the subsequent possession handed the Pioneers a 65-58 edge. Turnovers by each team were followed by a missed one-and-one by Paul, but Ouedraogo's offensive board and another Ramapo foul sent Paul back to the charity stripe, where he made both with 1:05 to play (67-58).
Davian Plunkett (Paterson, N.J./Paterson Kennedy) was 1-for-2 at the stripe (67-59, 0:58), but senior Eric Moore (Dover, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) found a streaking Paul for a fast-break bucket, making it a 10-point game less than 10 seconds later. Another WP foul led to a 1-for-2 foul-shooting effort by
Andre Kenny (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson), and the Roadrunners had a chance to cut into the lead again when the Pioneers missed a pair of free throws, but Kenny's jumper was off the mark. Moore stretched the lead back to 11 with two successful free throws (71-60, 0:32), essentially putting an end to Ramapo's upset hopes.
Paul was 10-for-16 (.625) from the field for his career-best 25 points, adding five rebounds and four assists, while Ellis was 9-for-17 (.529) overall and 6-for-12 (.500) from three-point range. Senior Bobby Dunn (Garwood, N.J./Arthur L. Johnson Regional) posted 10 points, six rebounds and six assists, Moore collected eight assists and four steals, and Ouedraogo added four points to his game-best nine rebounds.
AJ LoRusso (Mahwah, N.J./Don Bosco Prep) led Ramapo with 12 points, while Kenny contributed 11. Plunkett posted nine tallies and eight rebounds, and
LaQuan Peterkin (Paterson, N.J./John F. Kennedy), the NJAC's leading scorer with 17.6 points per game, had nine points and seven boards.
William Paterson will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Rutgers-Newark at 8:00 p.m. Ramapo will host Montclair State Saturday, Feb. 6, at 3:00 p.m.
