WAYNE, NJ -- Rowan defeated William Paterson, 86-61, on Saturday afternoon to help notch the first NJAC win on the season.

Khalif Meares netted a game-high 24 points and Ja'Zere Noel kicked in 22 as the Profs used a 12-2 run midway through the second half to open up an eight-point lead. In that second half, Rowan hit on 18-of-33 from the floor (54%) while limiting the Pioneers to a 9-of-28 (32%) performance. The Profs also turned 20 WPU turnovers into 27 points on the day as well.

Neftali Valentin led the home team with 13 points as he was one three players in double digits.

In the first half, Rowan erased an early deficit thanks to a 12-0 spurt in taking a 19-10 advantage at the 11:41 mark. The Pioneers cut to three (22-19) minutes later but the Profs were able to stretch it to 37-29 at the half.

Noel and Meares netted the first six points of the second half, with Meares accentuating the streak with back-to-back dunks off of a pair of steals to up the lead to 14.

William Paterson got as close as 53-48 with 11:55 remaining in the second before Meares' three-point play helped ignite the scoring run that would open up a double-figure lead the rest of the way.

Meares finished with six steals while he, Jamir Spivey and Booty Butler all had three assists each. Noel added a game-high 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.

Rowan takes on Rutgers-Camden on Wednesday, December 6th here in Glassboro in an NJAC tilt starting at 5:30 p.m.