WAYNE, N.J. – The TCNJ men's basketball team never trailed as it defeated William Paterson, 79-57, on Wednesday night in NJAC conference action. With the win, the Lions moved into first place in the NJAC with a 6-2 NJAC record. The Lions are also 10-5 overall. William Paterson entered the game tied with TCNJ and two other teams for first place in the league.
 
TCNJ never trailed in the game, thanks in large part to the Lions' 14-0 run to open the game. Niall Carpenter, Randall Walko and P.J. Ringel all hit three pointers on that opening run, and William Paterson didn't get on the board until a layup six minutes into the game.
 
A trademark of TCNJ's win streak has been its ability to overwhelm opponents with a barrage of three pointers. That wasn't exactly the story on Wednesday night as the Lions hit nine three pointers on 32 attempts. Six of those came in the first half, though, to help the Lions build their lead.
 
The scoring was so balanced from TCNJ on this night that those six first-half three pointers came from six different players. After the initial barrage to open the game, the Lions had makes from downtown from Travis Jocelyn, Joe Montano and Ryan Jensen.
 
The Lions led by as many as 20 points in the first half, and the lead ballooned to its largest point, 27, when Sterling White made it 79-52 with a three-point play with 1:13 remaining in the second half. The chance of a William Paterson comeback appeared slim thanks to tough TCNJ defense. The Lions held the Pioneers to just 31.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Pioneers also shot just 30 percent from three-point range.
 
TCNJ bulked up with its scoring, getting 38 points in the paint compared to William Paterson's 20. That helped to make up for the Lions making fewer three pointers than their average. On the individual scoring front, Jocelyn led the Lions with 18 points. Walko had 17, and Carpenter had 11 to round out the Lions in double figures.
 
Walko and Jordan Glover had eight rebounds each to lead the team. TCNJ held a 48-37 advantage on the glass. The Lions have held the rebounding advantage in four of their five straight wins, grabbing an average of 5.8 more rebounds per game than their opponents. In the last three contests, that advantage swells to 10 rebounds per game.
 
TCNJ stays on the road to face Kean on Saturday at 1 p.m.