News Release

WAYNE, NJ — The No. 12 William Paterson men’s basketball team (6-1, 1-0 NJAC) defeated Montclair State (3-4, 0-1 NJAC) 66-50 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) season opener for both schools Dec. 6.

The Pioneers built a 33-23 halftime lead into a 21-point cushion (47-26, 13:44) less than seven minutes into the second half. The Red Hawks cut that lead to nine (51-42, 6:30), but that was as close as they would get as William Paterson responded with a 9-2 burst to regain control of the contest. For the game, the Pioneers used their aggressive style of play to outscore the Red Hawks 40-20 in the paint and 23-7 in points off of turnovers.

Senior all-American Luis Martinez ( Passaic, N.J./Clifton) led William Paterson with a double-double, collecting 17 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Joey Spiegel ( Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) added nine tallies and five assists. Charles Miller ( Linden, N.J./Linden) had 11 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Red Hawks.

The Pioneers were ranked 12th in this week’s d3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

William Paterson will next play at Rutgers-Camden Saturday, Dec. 9, at 3:00 p.m.