WAYNE, NJ – Junior forward Deshawn Singleton (Passaic, NJ/Passaic HS) paced Rutgers-Newark with 14 points and seven rebounds, but William Paterson seized the lead in the New Jersey Athletic Conference's North Division with a 71-54 win in the WPU Rec Center.
NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play
The Pioneers (14-2, NJAC 5-1) moved a game ahead of the Scarlet Raiders (11-7, NJAC 4-2) and Montclair State (12-5, NJAC 4-2) in the five-team North Division.
Junior guard Tim Smith (Mullica Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) hit four of eight shots from the floor and dropped in all four of his free throws to total a dozen points for Rutgers-Newark. Junior forward Phil Barnes (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) made all four of his field goal attempts and tallied 10 points while tying Singleton for game-high honors with seven rebounds.
But Smith and Barnes were the only Scarlet Raiders starters to make half or more of their shots as Rutgers-Newark shot an icy 34.7% from the floor. Rutgers-Newark made just one of 10 shots from beyond the arc, but the Pioneers posted the same totals from 3-point range.
Reserve sophomore guard Gabriel Paul, who tallied a game-high 19 points, made all 13 of his free throw attempts as the Pioneers won the game at the charity stripe by make 28 of 31 tries, including 17 of 18 in the opening period when WPU forged a 34-24 advantage. Rutgers-Newark shot an impressive 19 from 23 from the foul line, making 13 of 14 tries in the second period.
Sophomore forward Charles Miller (Linden, NJ/Linden) came off the bench to make two of two field goal tries and all five of his free throw attempts to finish with nine points. High-scoring forward David Cherry (Linden, NJ/Roselle Catholic), who was limited to just four points on one for seven accuracy from the floor, grabbed six rebounds.
Singleton and Smith – who both fouled out of the contest – had two field goal apiece as Rutgers-Newark jumped out to an 11-7 lead during the first 8:40 of the game. But, WPU stalled the Raider attack and closed the opening period with a 7-3 run over the final three minutes to take control of the game.
The Raiders got no closer than nine points in the second half – at 38-29 on a conventional 3-point play by Miller with 14:23 left – as the Pioneers pushed the lead to 17 four times down the stretch.
Junior guard Tim Lucas notched 11 points – making five of six from the line – and added four assists and five rebounds for WPU while senior forward Jordan Fowler chipped in nine points and team-highs of six rebounds and three steals.
Rutgers-Newark visits Rowan for an NJAC doubleheader on Saturday. The women tip off at 1 p.m. with the men to follow at 3 o'clock.
