ALLENTOWN, NJ–Last Friday afternoon, GMC Hoops covered its third college game of the season by traveling out to Muhlenberg College to take in the first men’s game of the 2009 Scotty Wood Tournament. In this game, William Paterson of Wayne, New Jersey was taking on Moravian. There were several area players involved in this game including three from the GMC: Tim Lucas (Old Bridge) and Nick Allan (Colonia) for William Paterson, and Alec Mayo (East Brunswick) of Moravian.
Tim Lucas was the player of the game in this one. Scoring nine points in the first half, and 10 points over the first 4:05 of the second half to lead the Pioneers to a 75-45 rout of the Greyhounds. For the game, Lucas, who also set a tournament record with 9 steals, made 7 of 13 shots including 2 of 4 from long distance while netting all three of his foul shots. He also grabbed five rebounds while committing one turnover. Newark Science alum, Joseph Ellis chipped in with 10 points as he made two field goals, and all six of his free throws. Gabriel Paul of Hillside, Eric Moore of St. Benedict’s Prep and FDU, and Shaun Canty (Bergen Catholic) chipped in with 8 points. Eric Weaver (Roxbury) and Nnamdi Njoku (Rancocas Valley) tied for team high on Moravian with 9 points.
The Greyhounds struck first with the first three points of the game including a short jumper at the 19:31 mark, and one of two from the line at the 18:58 mark (Lucas called for a block instead of a charge). William Paterson committed two turnovers over a span of 1:25, and Moravian had a chance to go up even further, but promptly turned the ball over. Regaining composure, the Pioneers went on an 8-0 run over a span of 3:20 to go up by five. Lucas grabbed a rebound and set up Ellis for a score to give WPU its first lead of the game at the 16:29 mark. Ellis’ teammate at Newark Science, Abdoulaye Ouedraogo (5 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks), who scored off a putback earlier in the run, then added an offensive rebound and follow. Paul then rounded out the run with a pair of free throws at the 15:15 mark.
Moravian continued to persist over the next 8:02 with a 17-9 effort including a 4-0 run to pull within 8-7 before an Eric Moore three pointer at the 13:41 mark, and an 8-0 run to take a 20-17 lead before Ellis netted two of his free throws to close the gap to 20-19. It would be the last time the Greyhounds would have the lead. A minute after closing the gap to one, Ellis gave the Pioneers the lead for good with a pair of foul shots at the 6:13 mark. Lucas then got a rebound, and dribbled upcourt for a pull-up jumper that made the score, 23-20. William Paterson’s physical style and defense began to wear down Moravian at this point as they forced a shot clock violation at the 3:42 mark.
In the meantime, the Pioneers offense got in gear with a 12-3 spurt to end the half with a 20-5 surge to take a 37-25 lead going into the intermission. Lucas, who scored 17 of his 19 points over a span of 9:51, contributed during the run with a pull-up jumper at the 1:46 mark, and a three pointer at the 1:10 mark. In the first half, William Paterson shot 44 percent from the floor while Moravian made 39 percent of its shots. The second half started right where it left off for the Pioneers as they scored 14 of the first 16 points of the period to take a commanding 51-27 lead with 14:20 remaining.
From there, William Paterson was never threatened again as it still managed to outscore Moravian by a margin of 24-18 the rest of the way. Nick Allan got into the game at the 12:21 mark, and came up with a three point play to make the score, 62-35 with 10:10 remaining. He also added two free throws with 1:02 left to end the game with 5 points and 2 rebounds. Alec Mayo saw spurts of action for the Greyhounds, and swiped a steal for a layup with 40.3 seconds left to get on the scoreboard. After the first 12 minutes of the game, the Pioneers dominated.
Over the final 38 minutes of the contest, WPU outscored Moravian by a margin of 58-25. Tenacious defense by the Pioneers forced 25 turnovers while limiting the Greyhounds to 41 percent shooting for the game. William Paterson shot exactly 50 percent from the field, and made 44 percent of its three point attempts. The Pioneers, which defeated FDU-Florham in its opener, also were almost flawless as a team from the line by going 17 of 19 for 89.5 percent. WPU, which competes in the NJAC, would lose to SUNY Oneonta in the Championship Game, 56-53.
A more detailed article on this game will be coming soon. On Sunday afternoon, GMC Hoops plans to be out at Drexel University in Center City, Philadelphia to watch Metuchen’s Marqus Blakely and the Vermont Catamounts take on Toledo in the Legends Classic. See the updated schedule for college hoops coverage.