box score
RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Sophomore forward Manny Perez (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor), right, recorded 19 points and seven rebounds off the bench as the Caldwell College men's basketball team beat Felician College, 71-63 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Tuesday night in Rutherford, N.J. The win is the Cougars' third straight and the eighth victory in their last nine games, improving their record to 11-9 overall and 7-5 in the CACC. Felician drops to 7-10, 5-7 CACC.

Felician opened the game hitting four of their first seven shots, including a pair of three-pointers from Vincent Parnell, to take a 12-4 lead in the first four minutes of the game. The Golden Falcons maintained the lead until a pair of free throws from sophomore forward B.J. Suchy (Ronkonkoma, NY/Our Savior) put the Cougars ahead 18-17 with 7:41 left in the first half. After Felician's Sydir Mitchell answered a jumper by freshman guard Carl Augustin (Stony Point, NY/Don Bosco Prep), senior guard Mark Kelly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.) nailed back-to-back three-pointers to give Caldwell a 26-20 advantage. Augustin followed a missed Felician shot with a basket to make the score 28-20, Caldwell's largest lead in the half, with 4:40 remaining. But the Golden Falcons closed out the half with a 9-3 run as the Cougars went into the break leading 31-29.

The Cougars led by as many as six points early in the second half, only to have Felician work the deficit down to one following a conventional three-point play by Sadot Williams with 10:27 on the clock. After the teams exchanged baskets, Perez answered with a three-point play of his own, making a lay-up and converting the foul shot to give Caldwell a 49-45 lead with 9:41 left. Felician had an opportunity to tie or take the lead, but Mitchell and Williams each went 1-of-2 from the line that again brought the Golden Falcons to within one point. But the Cougars responded with six consecutive points, including four from junior guard Jean Georges (Vauxhal, NJ/Spotswood) and a Suchy dunk off a steal by senior guard Kelvin Reese (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) to give Caldwell a 56-49 lead with 6:36 remaining. Felician would get no closer than three the rest of the way, as the Cougars went 13-of-14 from the free throw line in the game's final five minutes.

Perez, who had scored in double-figures in six straight games and in 10 of his last 12 contests, now has 813 career points to rank 17th on Caldwell's all-time scoring list. Suchy, left, tallied 15 points and seven boards, while Georges, the Cougars' leading scorer coming into the game at 16.9 points per game, had 12. Parnell and Williams each scored 13 points for Felician, and Michael Pierrot recorded 11 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Cougars head back on the road to face Holy Family University on Thursday, Jan. 26 in an important CACC contest. Game time is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pa.