GLASSBORO, NJ - Khalif Meares scored a game-high 29 points as Rowan led from the opening tip, en route to an 84-74 win over William Paterson in an NJAC men's basketball matchup.

Game Highlights

Meares also grabbed nine rebounds and picked up eight steals while Jamir Spivey collected a career-high 15 boards for the Profs. Danny Fleming scored 18 points and Brycen Williams tallied a career-best 17 points for Rowan, which improves to 5-3 and 4-1 in the league.

Rowan scored the first 16 points of the game in the first six minutes, helped by seven points from Meares, and William Paterson (4-6; 1-4) didn't get on the board until the 14:29 mark. Rowan's biggest lead of the half was 31-13 at 8:41, but the Pioneers outscored the Profs the remainder of the half to cut their deficit to 44-33 at halftime.

Meares had 18 points in the first half, making 7-of-11 shots while Fleming scored 11 and Williams had 10 points.

It was more of the same in the second half, although William Paterson came within 10 points, 50-40, at 16:15. But Rowan stretched the lead back to 63-48 on a three-pointer from Williams at 11:42 and gained its biggest lead of the game, 77-58, with 5:48 to play after a jumper by Drew Amos. The Pioneers cut it down to 10 points three more times before the end of the game, including for the final margin.

Rowan shot 44.7 percent in the game and scored 54 points in the paint, while forcing 19 turnovers by William Paterson.

Rowan will participate in Catholic University's Tom McKavitt Classic this week taking on the host team on December 18th at 3 p.m. The Profs will then play either Marymount or Saint John's (MN) on December 19th in the consolation (1 p.m. or championship game (3 p.m.).