Wayne, NJ… The College of New Jersey men's basketball team dropped a New Jersey Athletic Conference game for the first time in the 2017-18 season, falling to William Paterson University 65-53 Wednesday night. TCNJ drops to 9-3 overall and 4-1 in the NJAC. The Pioneers improve to 7-6 overall and 2-4 in the NJAC.
 
Tied at eight early in the first half, the Lions broke the game open scoring seven straight points capped by a three pointer from Liam Byrne (Middletown, NJ/Red Bank Catholic).
 
The Pioneers refused to go away, whittling the league to a single point as TCNJ held a 26-25 halftime advantage.
 
William Paterson exploded to open the second half, using a 15-2 run to take control of the contest. Sean Smith knocked down a pair of triples and a lay-up during the streak on his way to a game-high 14 points. Smith was one of four Pioneers in double figures.
 
The Lions would close the gap to six on a Niall Carpenter (Westampton, NJ/Westampton) triple with two and a half minutes remaining, but would get no closer. Carpenter finished with 12 points.
 
Lions senior Eric Murdock, Jr. (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater) passed a pair of milestones in the game moving into tenth on the Lions career scoring list and 11^th on the TCNJ career rebounding list.
 
The Lions were uncharacteristically poor from behind the arc, shooting 27.8% from distance after entering the game 38.8% from long range. The team also struggled with ball security committing 20 turnovers to just 11 for the Pioneers.
 
TCNJ was led by Jordan Glover (Trenton, NJ/Lawrence), who finished with 13 points. Glover, Murdock, Jr., and Carpenter nabbed seven boards.
 
The Lions will return home Saturday, January 6 when they continue NJAC play against 19^th-ranked Ramapo College at 3:00 PM.