UNION, N.J. (2/16/22) – Letrell West finished with a game-high 20 points as the Kean University men's basketball team dropped their New Jersey Athletic Conference regular season finale to William Paterson University, 84-76 on Senior Night.

Domenic Mignone tallied 16 points and six assists for the Pioneers who improve to 12-11 overall and 9-9 in the NJAC. Jailen Jamison totaled 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Cougars who fall to 14-9 overall and 9-9 in the NJAC.

With the loss, Kean earns the #6 seed in the NJAC tournament.

Kean opened the game on a 13-5 run, before Paterson answered with a 6-2 run to cut the lead down to 13-11. The Cougars traded buckets and maintained a five point lead until the final three minutes when the Pioneers would take their first lead of the game at 32-31. Kean looked to go into halftime with the lead as a Jamison triple and two West free throws put the Cougars in front at 36-32 with 90 seconds remaining.

Paterson connected on back-to-back triples which evened the contest at 38-38 entering intermission.

In the second half, the Pioneers opened with a 12-4 run to hold a 50-44 advantage with 16:34 remaining. Despite cutting the lead down to a single point multiple times, Kean never regained the lead. The Cougars also had a tough time overcoming the hot shooting from Paterson who finished with a 72.7% field goal percentage in the second stanza.

Patrick Strzala totaled 16 points and two rebounds, while Nate Lyles finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. Justin Singh-Smith recorded six points and four rebounds, while Alkeim Raines Jr. collected five points and four assists.

Before the game, Head Coach David Turco and his staff honored Lyles and Jalen Hudgins for their hardwork and dedication to the program.

Coach Turco and the Cougars will return to action in the NJAC Tournament against the third seed Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers Newark in a quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, Feb. 22^nd at 7:00 p.m.