With the loss, the Devils dropped to 6-4.
The Pioneers opened up a 12-4 lead with 4:24 gone by in the game behind four points apiece from Martinez and senior forward Samir Sanu (Edison, NJ/Sayreville). William Paterson built their lead up to 14 points, 34-20, on a layup by sophomore forward Shawn Colwell (Irvington, NJ/Irvington) with 4:57 left in the first half. The Devils responded with a 13-0 run to close the half going into the locker rooms trailing by just one point, 34-33. Sophomore guard Ryan McPherson (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) had six points during the run while senior guard Frank Emslie (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) had five points.
William Paterson started the second half on a 16-5 run to take a 50-38 lead with 12:15 remaining in the game. Martinez and junior guard Joey Spiegel (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) each had five points during the spurt. The Devils cut the lead to six points, 57-51, with 4:22 left on two free throws by senior center Brian Rimol (Randolph, NJ/Randolph). After two missed free throws from the Pioneers, Rimol was on the line again but a lane violation gave the ball back to William Paterson and Martinez came down and hit a three pointer in the corner to put the Pioneers up 60-51. FDU got three layups down the stretch from senior forward Pierre Schmitt (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) but William Paterson made most of their foul shots down the stretch to secure the win.
“Overall, I thought our effort was very good tonight. I thought we made too many mistakes down the stretch that really cost us,” said assistant coach Bill Zotti. “We had a pretty good first semester by finishing 6-4, we know there is a lot of work to be done and we’re not satisfied.”
Spiegel finished with 12 points and seven steals for the Pioneers. Schmitt had 17 points for the Devils while Emslie had 15 points and seven rebounds and McPherson had 13 points and six boards.
The Devils return to action on Wednesday, January 3, 2007, at home against Briarcliffe beginning at 8 pm.