BOX SCORE

WAYNE, N.J. – Freshman Jerome Cohen paced Becker (24-4) with 25 points and eight rebounds as the Hawks upset No. 12 William Paterson (24-5), 69-53, in the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament first round March 2.  Becker advances to play Scranton (21-7), a 70-67 overtime first-round winner against Messiah (20-7), in the second round Saturday, March 3, at 7:00 p.m. in Wayne.

Senior Rajai Leggett scored 17 points for the Hawks, while NECC Player of the Year Terrance Favorsposted seven tallies and eight boards.  Sophomore Chris Canady had seven rebounds and three assists, and freshman Yahmad Rountree contributed seven points off the bench.

Junior guard Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) scored a game-best 32 points for the host Pioneers, adding six rebounds and three steals.  The NJAC Player of the Year, junior guard/forward Lance Brown (Teaneck, N.J./Paterson Catholic) collected six tallies and a team-best eight rebounds.

Tied at 25-25 at halftime, Becker blew the game open with a 13-2 second-half run, expanding a 45-42 lead with 10:11 to play into a 58-44 advantage with 4:20 left.  The Pioneers missed seven straight field goals and committed two turnovers during the stretch. 

During the final 20 minutes, Becker shot 51.6 (16-31) percent from the floor and out-rebounded WP 28-14 while limiting the Pioneers to a .241 (7-29) field-goal percentage.

The Pioneers jumped to an early 11-4 lead after Chandler drove the lane and made a layup 5:20 into the contest.  Becker battled back, hitting on three consecutive shots to make it a one-point game (11-10, 12:15). 

William Paterson opened its lead up to six, 21-15, with 6:53 remaining in the half after Brown made a layup off a feed from Chandler.  The back-and-forth play continued, and a three-pointer by Donovin Ford-Hayesgave Becker a 25-23 edge with 2:41 remaining in the first half.  Two Chandler free throws with 1:25 on the clock knotted the score at 25-25, and the two teams combined for three misses and a trio of turnovers to end the period.

Overall, Becker enjoyed a 47-35 rebounding advantage, and out-scored William Paterson 32-18 in the paint and 16-6 off turnovers.  The Hawks finished with a 44.1 (26-59) field-goal percentage and the Pioneers were just 16-for-57 (.281) from the floor.

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BOX SCORE

WAYNE, N.J. – Scranton (21-7) erased an 18-point second-half deficit to force overtime, eventually defeating Messiah (20-7), 70-67, in the 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament first round March 2.  The Royals advance to face Becker (24-4), a 69-53 first-round winner against host No. 13 William Paterson (24-4), on Saturday, March 3, in the second round at 7:00 p.m. in Wayne.

Messiah opened up an 18-point lead in the second half after a David Fernandez layup with 8:06 to play in the second half.  Scranton immediately stormed back with a 17-4 scoring streak, cutting the deficit to 53-48 with 2:49 remaining, as the Royals drained four consecutive field-goal attempts. 

Scranton made it a three-point deficit at 54-51 when sophomore Tommy Morgan nailed a three-pointer with 1:27 remaining in regulation.  The two teams traded 2-for-2 trips to the charity stripe before Fernandez extended Messiah's lead back to five at 58-53 when he hit a jumper with just three seconds left on the shot clock and 0:33 to play in the second half. 

A Luke Hawk three-pointer from the right side brought Scranton within two, 58-56, with 0:25 left.  Forced to foul, Scranton hacked Brad Bolen, who could only hit on the first of two free throws, leaving it a one-possession game with 0:22 remaining.  Hawk came up big again for Scranton, driving the lane and hitting a layup with 10 seconds left and cutting the Messiah lead to 59-58.  Scranton fouled again, sending Derek Mosley to the foul line where he converted both of his shots for a 61-58 Falcon lead with 0:08 on the clock.  Scranton's Matt Swaback nailed a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 0:03 remaining to tie the game at 61-61, and Messiah was unable to get a shot off before regulation expired.     

A Ross Danzig dunk with 3:48 left in overtime gave Scranton an early four-point advantage, 65-61, but Messiah twice battled back to within two, including a 69-67 score with 56 seconds left thanks to Trey Ritzman's trey.  But a block by Morgan on Ritzman's next attempt from beyond the arc forced Messiah to foul, sending Travis Farrell to the line, where he made one of two for a 70-67 Scranton advantage.  A desperation three-point attempt by Mosley rimmed out to end the game.

Hawk led all Scranton scorers with 20 points, adding five rebounds and a pair of assists.  Danzig and Morgan both scored 16, and Farrell tallied 11 while leading the team with seven rebounds.

Messiah was led in scoring by Fernandez's 22 points, and Jeremiah Runkle had a game-best nine rebounds.  Bolen tallied 14 off the bench as well as five rebounds and three assists, and Mosley was good for 11 points and eight rebounds.

After a back and forth opening, Messiah scored seven unanswered points to take a 20-13 lead with 9:34 remaining in the first half.  Led by 12 points from Fernandez and nine tallies from Bolen, Messiah took a 28-24 lead into halftime.  Seventeen unanswered points allowed the Falcons to turn a narrow 32-31 advantage less than five minutes into the second half into a commanding 49-31 lead at the 8:06 mark.