BIG SECOND HALF FUELS COMEBACK WIN OVER DOMINICAN

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CALDWELL, N.J. - Trailing by 12 points at halftime, the Caldwell College men's basketball team went on a 20-0 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half to spark a 56-53 comeback victory over Dominican College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Tuesday evening at the George R. Newman Center. Junior guard Jean Georges (Vauxhal, NJ/Spotswood) and sophomore forward Manny Perez (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor), right, each scored 16 points as the Cougars improved to 12-10 overall and 8-6 in the CACC. Dominican fell to 6-13, 5-9 CACC.

With the game tied at 12-12 midway through the first half, the Chargers reeled off a 12-0 run punctuated by a dunk by Prince Jackson that gave Dominican a 24-12 lead with 5:42 to go in the half. A jumper by senior forward Teren Scudder (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) with 1:47 left brought Caldwell to within seven, 28-21. But the Chargers restored their 12-point advantage with a three-pointer from Chaz Holloway and a basket by Jackson to take a 33-21 lead into the break. Dominican's Tahiem Stewart led all scorers with 12 points in the half as the Chargers shot 53.6 percent from the floor compared to 31.8 percent for Caldwell.

Everything changed in the second half. During the 20-0 Caldwell run, Dominican turned the ball over 14 times, missed all seven of their field goal attempts and missed a pair of free throws. Meanwhile, the Cougars went 6-of-7 from the field, including threes from Georges and senior guard Mark Kelly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.), and recorded six steals, including three by senior guard Kelvin Reese (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck), to turn a 12-point deficit into a 41-33 lead with 10:29 remaining in the game. Stewart ended the scoring drought for Dominican with a lay-up at the 9:55 mark. Two free throws by Reese and a Perez lay-up sandwiched around another Chargers' turnover increased the lead to 45-35 with just over eight minutes to play.

With the score 48-37 with 6:24 left, Jackson sparked a 14-5 Dominican run with 11 points to pull the Chargers to within two points, 53-51 with 1:22 on the clock. Perez made a pair of free throws on the Cougars' next possession, then Charles Matthews scored for Dominican to make the score 55-53 with 42 seconds remaining. After working the clock down under 15 seconds, Georges missed a jumper, but Perez grabbed the offensive rebound as was fouled. He made the first free throw but missed the second, giving Dominican eight seconds to tie the game. But Bryan Browne's three-pointer just before the buzzer bounced off the rim, giving the Cougars an improbable comeback victory.

Caldwell ended up making 10-of-15 from the field in the second half, with sophomore forward B.J. Suchy (Ronkonkoma, NY/Our Savior) hitting all three of his attempts. Suchy finished with 10 points, with Reese, left, recording a season-high five steals. Stewart led all scorers with 18 points to go with eight rebounds and four steals, while Jackson added 17 for the Chargers.

The Cougars return to action on Saturday, Feb. 4, when they travel to Wilmington, Del., to play Goldey-Beacom College in an important CACC battle. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

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