NEWARK, NJ – Junior forward David Cherry netted a game-high 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds, but William Paterson won a see-saw New Jersey Athletic Conference battle, 61-58, in The Golden Dome.
NCAA Statistics
The win locked up the top seed in the North Division and a first-round bye for William Paterson (18-6, NJAC 10-3) in the upcoming NJAC Championship Tournament. Rutgers-Newark (13-12, NJAC 6-7) finished its regular season.
Freshman guard Gabriel Paul had 10 of his 13 points and senior guard Joey Spiegel netted eight of his nine in the second half as William Paterson rallied for the win. Paul had four free throws and Spiegel converted a conventional 3-point play to cap a 9-1 Pioneer run which gave the visitors the lead for good at 54-51 after two ties and five lead changes in the second half.
RAIDER VISION HIGHLIGHT VIDEO
The Scarlet Raiders twice cut the lead to one down the stretch. Junior guard Chadd Barnes, who scored all of his 15 points in the second half, dropped in a pair of free throws to make it 54-53 before WPU sophomore guard Bobby Dunn nailed a 3-point jumper at 2:03 to boost the Pioneers back up by four.
Cherry drained a 3-point jumper from the left corner with nine seconds left to trim the deficit to 59-58. But, Paul knocked down two free throws after being fouled on the ensuing inbounds play to ice the win with 3.9 seconds left. Rutgers-Newark never got off a final shot.
On senior night, senior guard Angel Collado dished out a game-high seven assists and added six points and three rebounds while sophomore guard James Johnson scored seven points.
Spiegel added four rebounds, three assists and two steals to his totals while Paul collected seven rebounds and made nine of 12 free throws as William Paterson out-scored the Raiders by seven at the free throw line.
Sophomore forward Abdoulaye Ouedraogo hauled down a game-high nine rebounds to help the Pioneers control the boards, 39-29. Senior guard Jason Cameron and sophomore guard Joseph Ellis chipped in nine points apiece for WPU.
Rutgers-Newark must now wait to see if it receives its four consecutive invitation to the ECAC Metro Championship Tournament. The opening round of the eight-team affair is set for March 5 with bracket announcements coming on the evening of March 3.
