A 3-point try before the final buzzer by William Paterson junior guard Kelvin DeLosAngeles just missed and enabled the Scarlet Raiders (11-7, 5-5 NJAC) to secure a season sweep of their conference rivals.
Junior guard Justin Carter led all scorers with 16 points for Rutgers-Newark, which went 17-for-20 at the foul line and shot 55.6 percent (10-for-18) in the second half.
Meanwhile the Pioneers (13-7, 5-7 NJAC), who were led by sophomore forward Luis Martinez’ 12 points, went just 9-for-16 at the charity stripe. They got within 52-51 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Robert Sullivan with 7.1 seconds left before Carter iced the game by knocking down a pair of free throws.
Rutgers-Newark trailed 22-10 with 5:20 left in the first half and had converted just two field-goal attempts before senior guard Royce Blackwell canned a 3-pointer. From there, the Scarlet Raiders used a 25-8 run to take a 35-30 lead with 12:21 left in the game after a lay-up by Carter.
William Paterson pulled ahead briefly when DeLosAngeles, who finished with 11 points off the bench, converted two free-throw tries to make it 40-39 with 7:56 remaining. However, the Scarlet Raiders used a free throw by sophomore guard Phil Slater (Newark, NJ/University) to tie the game at the 7:06 mark and Horton put his team ahead to stay with his trifecta.
Horton also grabbed eight rebounds for Rutgers-Newark.
Sullivan scored 10 points for the Pioneers.
William Paterson returns to action Saturday, Feb. 9, when it travels to NJAC rival Rowan for a 1 p.m. tip-off. Rutgers-Newark’s next game is the same day at 3 p.m. at Richard Stockton.