A 13-2 William Paterson spurt early in the first half turned a one-point deficit (14-15, 9:35) into a 10-point advantage (37-27, 6:40), and the Pioneers stretched that lead to 11 on two different occasions after that, including a 32-21 score with 4:54 to play before halftime. However, Ramapo scored seven of the period’s final nine points, cutting William Paterson’s lead to five (39-34) at the break.
The Roadrunners mounted a challenge to begin the second stanza, pulling to within two (43-41) in the first 3:22. Baskets by Tim Lucas (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge), Luis Martinez (Passaic, N.J./Clifton) and Joey Spiegel (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) helped get the advantage back to eight (51-43, 12:36). Ramapo again answered to pull within a field goal with 8:48 to play (56-54), but a 5-1 mini-run capped by John Rother’s (Sodus Point, N.Y./Sodus Central) two free throws gave the Pioneers a six-point (61-55) edge with 3:40 remaining.
Following a tip-in basket by the Roadrunners (61-57, 3:13), William Paterson turned the ball over, and Ramapo’s Ahmad Mosby sprinted ahead on a breakaway. WPU’s Jason Cameron (Cliffside Park, N.J./Cliffside Park) was whistled for an intentional foul with 2:35 on the clock, and after Mosby made his pair of free throws, Omar Alston was fouled on the ensuing possession and also made a pair from the stripe to tie the score at 61-61 (2:26). The Pioneers signaled for a timeout, but could not get the ball inbounded from midcourt, and were assessed a five-second violation. Antoine Pryor’s three from the right wing nudged the Roadrunners ahead (61-64, 2:01), which was followed by consecutive turnovers and a Ramapo foul. Martinez’s 1-for-2 trip to the line made it a two-point game (62-64, 0:46), but the Roadrunners made two foul shots of their own with 29 seconds remaining to go ahead 66-62. Martinez’s layup with 0:14 on the clock made the score 64-66, and following a 1-for-2 effort from the charity stripe by Ramapo, the Pioneers had one last chance to tie the game, but Da-Shawn Dwight’s (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) three from the left corner was short in the game’s waning seconds.
Cameron scored 14 of his game-high 17 points in the first half, making five of eight three-point attempts. Martinez had 13 tallies, while Spiegel added 12 points and tied with Lucas for the team rebounding lead with nine apiece.
The Pioneers will finish the regular season at home Wednesday, Feb. 14, against Rutgers-Newark at 8:00 p.m. Prior to the contest, William Paterson will honor its four seniors – Martinez, Rother, Samir Sanu (Edison, N.J./Sayreville) and Jon Torbick (Blairstown, N.J./North Warren).