STOCKTON EDGED BY WILLIAM PATERSON 73-71

Darnell McCargo

Boxscore

Richard Stockton (8-6, 2-1 NJAC) had its five-game winning streak snapped as the Ospreys came up just short in a 73-71 defeat to William Paterson (11-2, 3-1).

Stockton nearly erased a five-point deficit in the last 52 seconds. Darnell McCargo (Woodlynne/Collingswood) led the Ospreys with a team-high 15 points and Bill McDonough (Spring Lake/St. Rose) contributed 13 points and team-high eight rebounds.

DiAndre Brown (Sicklerville/Camden Co. Tech) scored 12 markers to bring his career total to 986 points and Kevin Johnson (Paulsboro/Paulsboro) also reached double figures with 10 points for the balanced Stockton offense. The tight game included 15 lead changes and 13 ties.

Corey Chandler drained a deep three-pointer with 52 seconds remaining to give William Paterson a 68-63 lead. Stockton fought back to within 71-70 on a clutch three-pointer by McCargo with 23 ticks left. After Chandler sank one of two from the line, McDonough was fouled with 3.7 seconds on the clock and hit his first try to make it 72-71 before his second attempt was off the mark.

Lance Brown was fouled on the rebound and made one of two for a 73-71 count with 0.8 seconds remaining. Stockton heaved a long inbounds pass to Salman Yusuff (Vineland/ Vineland) but his jumper over a WPU defender was off the mark as time expired and the Ospreys fell 73-71.

Brown netted eight points to help Stockton to a 31-30 edge at the end of a close first half in which the largest margin was just four points. In the second half, a three-pointer by Rich Suhr (Toms River/TR East) gave the Ospreys a 46-40 lead that was the biggest of the game by either team. William Paterson rallied to take a five-point cushion on two occasions down the stretch before edging the Ospreys by two.