Box score
Wayne, NJ... The College of New Jersey men's basketball team suffered their second straight conference loss as William Paterson University coasted to a 78-46 win.
The Lions (4-4, 0-2 NJAC) continued to struggle as a team coughing up 12 first-half turnovers (17 total) while being outrebounded 45-26 in the game. The Pioneers (6-1, 2-0 NJAC) took control of the game from the opening tip-off going on a 12-2 run to start the first period. Holding a 40-19 halftime lead, WPU wasted no time putting the game out of reach going on a 10-0 run to increase the gap to 31 points with only two-and-a-half minutes ticked off the second-half clock.
The Pioneers, who entered the game with the top-ranked defense in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, held TCNJ's starting five to just 22 total points. Freshman Pat Szukics (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) led the Lions with a career-best 10 points off the bench. Szukics was 3-for-5 from the floor, knocking down a three-pointer, and all three of his free-throw attempts.
Seniors Jay Frank (Brick, NJ/Brick), Aaron Syvertsen (Midland Park, NJ/Midland Park), and Will Manhart (Hillsborough, NJ/Immaculata) each chipped in with six points for TCNJ. Junior Steve Siracusa (New Providence, NJ/New Providence) grabbed five boards for the Lions.
Senior Abdoulaye Ouedraogo (Newark, N.J./Newark Science) was 9-for-10 (.900) from the floor to lead all players with 19 points and nine rebounds. Senior Eric Moore (Dover, N.J./St. Benedict's Prep) dropped in 12 points to go along with five assists. The Pioneers made 33-of-63 (.524) attempts overall and 6-for-14 (.429) from beyond the arc.
The Lions have an 11-day layoff to iron out some wrinkles before returning to action on Thursday, December 17 at Davidson College. Davidson is a Division I school in Davidson, NC where former standout guard Stefan Curry was the seventh overall pick in NBA draft selected by the Golden State Warriors in 2009.
