GEORGES SCORES 25 TO PACE COUGARS PAST NYACK, 77-70

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CALDWELL, N.J. - Junior guard Jean Georges (Vauxhal, NJ/Spotswood), right, tallied 25 points as the Caldwell College men's basketball team won an important Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game at Nyack College, 77-70 Tuesday night. The win breaks a tie between the Warriors and the Cougars, who improve to 15-12 overall and 11-8 in the CACC. Nyack falls to 10-9 in the conference and 11-13 overall.

Nyack held the upper hand for most of the first half and led 27-25 with 4:35 to play in the period. Georges tied the game with a jumper, then senior guard Kelvin Reese (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) hit a pair of free throws to give the Cougars a 29-27 lead. Caldwell maintained a slim advantage until Josh Tate's jumper with 48 seconds left sent the teams into halftime tied at 35-35.

After the first 5:24 of the second half saw five lead changes and three ties, Nyack maintained the lead for most of the half, although never leading by more than five points. With the Warriors up 66-16 with four minutes to play, free throws by Georges and Reese and a basket by Reese knotted the game at 66-66. Nyack briefly regained the lead, only to have senior guard Mark Kelly (Oakhurst, NJ/Ocean Twp.) nail a three-pointer at the 2:27 mark to put the Cougars ahead 70-68. From that point on, Caldwell went 7-of-8 from the free throw line while Nyack missed all six of its attempts from the field.

The victory earns the Cougars a split of the season series with the Warriors, who defeated Caldwell, 75-72 earlier this season.

Georges was 7-of-15 from the floor and a perfect 9-of-9 from the line en route to a game-high 25 points. Sophomore forward Manny Perez (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor) tallied 15 points and five boards, while Reese, left, finished with nine points. Lataiva Escho scored 18 points and John Van Dunk recorded 13 points and 11 boards for Nyack.

Next up for the Cougars is a CACC home game against N.J.I.T. on Saturday, Feb. 18. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. in the George R. Newman Center.

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