Wayne, NJ - The No. 12 William Paterson men's basketball team (6-1, 1-0 NJAC) defeated Montclair State (3-4, 0-1 NJAC) 66-50 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) season opener for both schools Dec. 6.

The Pioneers built a 33-23 halftime lead into a 21-point cushion (47-26, 13:44) less than seven minutes into the second half.  The Red Hawks cut that lead to nine (51-42, 6:30), but that was as close as they would get as William Paterson responded with a 9-2 burst to regain control of the contest.  For the game, the Pioneers used their aggressive style of play to outscore the Red Hawks 40-20 in the paint and 23-7 in points off of turnovers.

Senior all-American Luis Martinez (Passaic, N.J./Clifton) led William Paterson with a double-double, collecting 17 points and 10 rebounds.  Junior Joey Spiegel (Teaneck, N.J./Teaneck) added nine tallies and five assists.  

CHARLES MILLER (Linden, N.J./Linden) had 11 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Red Hawks. The Red Hawks played without leading scorer JONATHAN ARTHUR and freshman guard MIKE HERN, who both sat out the game with injuries.

The Pioneers were ranked 12th in this week's d3hoops.com Top 25 Poll.

Montclair State returns to action on Saturday, December 9 as they host The College of New Jersey at 1:00 pm