Box Score WAYNE, N.J. (Feb. 1, 2016) – The William Paterson University men's basketball team closed out the first half with a 36-19 run to take a 16-point halftime lead, and the Pioneers went on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 87-62, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game here Monday night. The contest was a makeup of the game postponed by the Jan. 23 blizzard.
Paterson evens its record at 10-10 overall and improves to 5-8 in the NJAC. Rutgers-Camden falls to 2-17 overall and 1-12 in the conference with its 11th straight loss.
Paterson has won the last nine games in the series, 21 of the last 22, and leads the all-time series, 56-6.
With the Scarlet Raptors holding an 11-10 lead, Paterson junior guard
Joseph Taylor (Camden, NJ/Woodrow Wilson) nailed a three-point field goal 3:34 into the game, giving the Pioneers the lead for good. That trey started a 36-19 run the rest of the half, including a nine-point run that ballooned Paterson's lead from 18-15 to 27-15. Junior guard
Zach Frick (Sparta, NJ/Sparta) scored five points during that run.
By halftime, the Pioneers held a 46-30 lead, with senior guard
Bright Mensah (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack) scoring 14 points. The Pioneers led by as many as 29 points (77-48) in the second half.
Mensah and senior guard
Terik Bridgeman (Harlem, NY/Nia Prep) scored 26 points apiece for the Pioneers, shooting a combined 20-for-31 from the floor and 11-for-13 from the foul line. Bridgeman completed a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard
Elijah Robles (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) collected 18 points for the Scarlet Raptors, while adding seven rebounds and two assists. Sophomore forward
Abby Bah (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) collected his third double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Senior guard
John Tatem (Camden, NJ/Pennsauken Tech) notched 11 points and five boards.
Although the Scarlet Raptors had a 48-30 advantage off the boards, they also made 24 turnovers to the Pioneers' 11. Paterson also shot 50.8 percent from the field (33-for-65) to the Raptors' 37.9 percent (25-for-66).
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Wednesday when it entertains Stockton University in an 8 p.m. NJAC game.
