Box Score

New York, NY – Senior forward Frantz Millien (Rockland, NY/North Rockland) had a game high 23 points and 13 rebounds, but after holding an eight point lead late in the second half, William Paterson surmounted a 6-0 run to end the game and earn a 71-69 victory in a non-conference men's basketball game Saturday afternoon at the Hunter Sportsplex.

The Pioneers engineered two comebacks during the game, both after trailing by eight points. Hunter opened up the game with a 13-5 lead, five minutes into the half. The Pioneers would keep cutting away at the spread and eventually capture their first lead of the game, 24-23, with 5:29 left in the first. They would hold onto the one point lead heading into the intermission, 33-32.

Hunter came out soft to start the second half, allowing the Pioneers to build up an eight point lead of their own, but a 13-2 run would recapture the lead for the Hawks and after six quick points form Millen, Hunter was up 64-56 with 3:51 left on the clock.

Senior guard Nicholas Flagg (Queens, NY/Cardozo) nailed a shot from downtown to give the Hawks a 69-65 lead with 2:02 left, but a jumper from Pioneer guard Joseph Ellis (Newark, NJ/Newark Science) and a pair of free throws from senior guard Courtney Nelson (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) tied things up at 69 a piece with 38 seconds left in the game. Hunter then had a chance to close things out or head to overtime, but a rushed shot attempt from senior guard Emiljano Kinaj (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy) clanked off the rim and into the hands of junior guard Manny Perrotte (Piscataway, NJ/Piscataway) who found Nelson cutting to the lane for a bucket and a foul with 1.1 ticks on the clock. The Hawks called their final timeout prior to the free-throw attempt, which Nelson missed and ended the game without giving the Hawks a chance at retribution.

Nelson would finish the game with 13 points and shot 5-of-8 from the free throw line. Ellis was the high man for the Pioneers with 17 points, while Perrotte and sophomore guard Gabriel Paul (Hillside, NJ/Hillside) added 12 points each.

For the Hawks, Kinaj scored 12 points and had six assists and senior forward Maka Thomas (Queens Village, NY/Martin Van Buren) shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and made both his free throw attempts for ten points.

The teams finished virtually identical at the free throw line, with Hunter sinking 20-of-27 and the Pioneers making 20-of-28 attempts.

William Paterson now improves to 4-1 on the season and will open up New Jersey Athletic Conference play next Saturday, December 6 with Rowan University at 1:00 p.m. at the Recreation Center in Wayne, NJ.

Hunter (1-3) returns to action on Tuesday, when they open up conference play with the defending CUNYAC Champion John Jay Bloodhounds for the second game of a men's & women's double header at the Doghouse on the campus of John Jay College.