WAYNE, NJ – Senior guard James Johnson led Rutgers-Newark with 18 points, but William Paterson ended the Scarlet Raiders' seven-game winning streak with a 61-57 decision in a key New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
William Paterson 61, Rutgers-Newark 57
Johnson hit a career-high five of seven shots from 3-point range and connected on six of eight shots overall, but Rutgers-Newark shot just 39.1% from the floor, ending a string of eight game in which the Raiders shot 45% or better from the field.
Freshman point guard Al-Don Muhammad tallied 10 points for Rutgers-Newark (11-4, NJAC 3-2) while senior forwards Phil Barnes and Ryan Gillens notched eight points apiece. Barnes made four of seven shots from the field and Gillens, four of eight. Barnes and reserve guard Greg Moore each pulled down six rebounds for Rutgers-Newark.
High-scoring senior forward Deshawn Singleton managed just four points and two rebounds in the loss while Moore, who ranks among NJAC leaders in 3-point shooting, missed all five of his long-range jumpers.
WPU ultimately won the game at the free throw line, making 21 of 23 tires while the Raiders connected on just 15 of 26.
Guard Joseph Ellis scored 10 of the Pioneers' first 14 points on his way to a game-high 21. Forward Abdoulaye Ouedraogo and guard Bobby Dunn chipped in 14 points apiece for the Pioneers.
The Raiders rallied from 11 points down in the final 9:25 to draw to within three points. A 3-point jumper by Johnson followed by a pair of free throws by Muhammad with 2:23 left made it 51-48. WPU guard Eric Moore and Ellis each sank a pair of free throws to push the Pioneer lead to 55-48 with 1:04 left, and Rutgers-Newark got no closer than the final four-point margin in the closing seconds.
Ellis' early eruption staked WPU to a 14-4 lead in the first four and a half minutes of the contest, but the Raiders clawed their way back into the game. Johnson had a trey and a layup during a 9-0 spurt which reduced the Pioneer lead to 14-13 with 10:43 left in the period.
Neither team scored for nearly five and a half minutes after Dunn sank a 3-point jumper with 10:21 left to make it 17-13. Muhammad made three of four free throws to bring the Raiders within a point at 17-16 before a jumper by Ouedraogo ignited an 11-2 Pioneer run which pushed their lead to double digits. WPU took a 30-22 lead into the locker room at the half.
The Pioneers (14-1, NJAC 4-0) ran their win streak to 12 and remained the lone unbeaten team in the NJAC. Rutgers-Newark slipped into third place in the North Division behind Ramapo (12-3, NJAC 3-1).
The 57 points were the second lowest output of the season for the Raiders, who took a 53-33 decision over Rutgers-Camden on December 5.
Rutgers-Newark visits The College of New Jersey on Saturday for an NJAC doubleheader. The women tip off at 1 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 3 o'clock.
