Montclair, NJ – Sean Smith had a game-high 36 points to lead William Paterson past men's basketball 93-74 in New Jersey Athletic Conference action Wednesday.

The Pioneers (8-9, 4-6 NJAC) snapped a five-game losing streak to their neighbors. Their last victory in the series came on December 6, 2017, when they won 84-82 in Wayne, NJ. It was the Pioneers' first win in Montclair since December 5, 2015.

William Paterson started hot, holding the Red Hawks (8-9, 6-4 NJAC) to just two points over the first 4:45. Senior EDDIE EMEDOH hit a triple off a feed from NATE NAHIRNY, but the Pioneers reeled off the next 13 points to build a commanding lead. Senior JOSEPH RADI book-ended an 8-0 Red Hawk spurt to trim the deficit to 18, but the Pioneers were able to take a commanding 53-28 lead at the break.

The Pioneers shot a blistering 59.4% (19-of-32) from the field while holding Montclair to 32.1% (9-of-28) and forced 12 Red Hawk turnovers.

Radi netted the first five points of the second stanza, and a triple by JUSTIN PORTER capped off a 7-0 rally to get Montclair back to within 13 with 14:56 to go. Senior JALEN PARHAM and Porter tossed down dunks during back-to-back possessions capping off an 8-0 run before Nahirny hit a three to cut the Pioneer lead down to six.

The Red Hawks would be unable to get any closer, as the Pioneers were able to rebound from their slow start in the second half. Parham recorded the final Red Hawk points with 33 seconds to go to establish the final margin.

Parham poured in a career-best 19 points while Porter added 16 off the bench. Radi was 4-of-6 from behind the arc to add 14 points, as the Red Hawks bench out-scored the Pioneers reserves 51-5. Malcolm McLeod and Domenic Mignone combined for 42 points for the Pioneers.

The Red Hawks hit the road on Saturday, heading to Union, NJ to take on Kean University at 1 p.m. Montclair earned a 96-79 victory over the Cougars back on December 7, and have won the last nine matchups over Kean.