Box Score

Link to game day insert

Ewing, NJ –The College of New Jersey men's basketball team hosted William Paterson University Saturday afternoon in a NJAC contest in Packer Hall. The Lions would come away with the 70-65 victory to improve to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in the NJAC. Ranked No. 23 in Division III, WPU drops to 14-3 overall and 5-2 in the NJAC. The home win for the Lions puts TCNJ at 6-1 in Packer this year, while the loss snaps the Pioneers' four-game win streak.

TCNJ's junior Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) led the Lions on the day with his 19 points, while adding a team-high eight rebounds.

At the break, the two squads were knotted at 36-36 after the Pioneers came from behind, trailing by as many as nine points during the first half (27-18, 6:13). Sophomore Gabriel Paul (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) gave the Pioneers a 31-29 lead, their first of the game with a layup at 3:08 before the two teams exchanges leads and ties for the halftime tie.

TCNJ's Frank led the Lions with his 13 first half points, while senior guard Courtney Nelson (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) paced WPU also with 13 first-half points. WPU's Paul had nine points in the first half as the team shot an impressive 51.7% from the floor (15-29), while holding the Lions scoreless from beyond the arch (0-5) in the first half.

Junior guard Bobby Dunn (Garwood, NJ/Arthur L. Johnson) would foul out with 4:41 left to play and the Pioneers trailing by six, 62-56. The Pioneers would trail 63-61 after junior guard Manny Perrotte (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) would connect on a driving layup with 2:35 left. TCNJ would lose the ball with 2:14 left and WPU's failed to score the next trip down the floor. Frank would go to the line to shoot a pair at 1:19 and made the pair, giving the Lions a 65-61 lead.

Junior guard Joseph Ellis (Newark, NJ/Newark Science) would miss a pair of three-point attempts in the last minute before senior guard Eric Blackmon-Hayes (Plainfield, NJ/Westfield) hit one of two free throws at 21.4 seconds and gave the Lions a 66-61 lead.

Perrotte would connect on a lay-up at 13.4 seconds before the Lions returned to the free throw line as Blackmon-Hayes would make both of his two free throws at 9.9 seconds, giving TCNJ a 68-63 lead before Ellis made a jumper with 2.8 to pull the Pioneers within, three (68-65). Frank would return to the line with 1.8 seconds left to play and make both giving the Lions a five-point lead and the win.

Blackmon-Hayes finished with 11 points for TCNJ as they held a 42-30 edge on the boards and forced 13 turnovers. WPU held the Lions to a 9.1% effort from three-point range for the contest (1-11), while they shot just 25% from beyond the arch (3-12). WPU also got 19 points from Nelson, while Paul add 10 points before fouling out of the game.

TCNJ returns to action on January 26 when they travel to Wesley College for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference contest at Wesley College, while William Paterson University travels to Montclair State University for an 8:00 p.m. NJAC contest on January 28.