Wayne, NJ (2/1/12) –  Senior forward Andrew August (Bridgewater, NJ / Brdigewater-Raritan) scored a game-high 29 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists, however it wouldn’t be enough as Montclair State fell to William Paterson, 83-70 at the Rec Center on Wednesday evening.

The loss dropped Montclair State (16-6, 6-4 NJAC) into a three-way tie for second place along with Ramapo and New Jersey City in the NJAC North with Rutgers-Newark a half-game back. Montclair State hosts the Scarlet Raiders on
Saturday, February 4 at the Panzer Athletic Center beginning at 1:00 pm.

The Pioneers, who remain atop the division with the victory, gained a measure of revenge against their backyard rival as Montclair State won the first meeting between the teams on January 4, 80-79 in overtime as a layup attempt at the buzzer by the Pioneers fell off the back of the rim.

This time around there would be no last-minute heroics as William Paterson jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead in the first three minutes and led by double digits with just over six minutes gone by in the game, including a 17-5 lead with 13:35 to play.

Montclair State would score the next 10 points as Ordel Goldson (Hackettstown, NJ / Warren Hills) recorded the last four, including a layup with 10:57 left as the Red Hawks pulled within 17-15.

William Paterson would slowly extend the lead and closed out the half on a 16-5 run to take a 40-23 advantage into the break.

In the second half, freshman Dwight Bostic (Roselle, NJ / Abraham Clark) scored six points and August had a dunk in the opening 90 seconds as Montclair State closed the gap to within 40-31. However eight consecutive points by the Pioneers widened the lead back to 48-31 with 16:25 remaining.

Montclair State made one last run getting within five points as a three-point play by August made the score 62-57 with 8:43 left on the clock. But that would be as close as the Red Hawks would get the rest of the way as six straight points by William Paterson put the lead back to 11 points with six minutes to go.

Daniel Singleton (Neptune, NJ / Neptune) had 10 points and five rebounds for MSU while Bostic added nine points and four rebounds. Goldson grabbed six caroms in addition to his six points while Brandon Sessoms (Newark, NJ / Weequahic) had eight points in a reserve role. Brendan Holland (Briarcliff Manor, NY / Trinity Pawling) collected six points, five rebounds and two blocks.