WAYNE, NJ – Junior guard Chadd Barnes led four Rutgers-Newark players in double digits with a game-high 20 points, but William Paterson earned an important 79-65 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over the Scarlet Raiders in the WPU Rec Center.
NCAA Box Score
Barnes finished with four steals, three assists and four rebounds for the Raiders (11-8, NJAC 4-3) who are now tied for third place in the NJAC North Division with Montclair State with six league matches remaining. The Pioneers (15-3, NJAC 7-0) won their seventh straight game to maintain a two-game lead in the division over New Jersey City.
Sophomore forward Phil Barnes hit five of eight shots from the floor on the way to 12 points. He also tied sophomore forward Deshawn Singleton for team rebounding honors with eight. Junior forward David Cherry and senior guard Angel Collado netted 11 points apiece as Rutgers-Newark got all but four of its points from its starting five.
Junior center Afolabi Ajumobi came off the bench to hit both field goal attempts and added three rebounds and four blocked shots in just 15 minutes of play.
Guard Joey Spiegel netted 17 points to lead four Pioneers in double figures. Freshman forward Abdoulaye Ouedraogo and guard Gabriel Paul scored 13 points apiece. Ouedraogo had a double-double with 11 rebounds and he blocked a game-high six shots. Joseph Ellis and Steve Cousins added 10 points each for WPU.
Ellis had a field goal and two free throws during a crucial 9-0 run which staked WPU to an 18-8 lead with 10:17 left in the opening half. The Pioneers took a 40-31 edge to the locker room behind Paul's nine points and Spiegel's eight.
A Spiegel jumper with 16:32 left in the game capped an 8-1 spurt to open the second period by WPU, giving the Pioneers a commanding 49-32 lead. The Raiders would get no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Rutgers-Newark connected on just three of 17 3-point shots while the Pioneers knocked down six of their 12 tries from beyond the arc. Ellis was two for three from long range while Jason Cameron made two of five.
William Paterson also made 21 of 28 free throw attempts to out-score Rutgers-Newark by nine points at the charity stripe. The Raiders made 12 of 23 free throw chances.
Rutgers-Newark will host Richard Stockton (13-4, NJAC 6-1) on Saturday in the second half of an NJAC doubleheader in The Golden Dome. The Raider and Osprey women tip off at 5:30 p.m. before the men follow at 7:30.
