CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College men's basketball team made 57.5 percent from the field and held off a late charge by the University of the Sciences to defeat the Devils, 75-65 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest Saturday evening at the George R. Newman Center. The victory is Caldwell's third straight and improves the Cougars' record to 11-8 overall and 7-6 in the conference. The Devils fall to 10-8, 8-5 CACC.

The Cougars dominated play in the first half, building a 32-13 lead with 3:39 left in the half while shooting 12-of-18 from the floor during that stretch. Freshman forward Sam Cricelli (Brighton, England/Culham) scored 11 points and senior guard Jean Georges (Vauxhal, NJ/Spotswood) had 10 as the Cougars took a 36-18 advantage into halftime. Caldwell's defense also stepped up, holding the Devils to just 36.8 percent shooting (7-of-19).

But the Devils, who entered the game in third place in the CACC, would not concede the result just yet, making a push midway through the second half. With Caldwell ahead 52-36 at the 12:56 mark, USP's Bill Kurtz buried three three-pointers to spark a 12-1 run that made the score 53-48 Cougars with 9:20 to play. Georges answered with a three-pointer of his own to stop the run, but the Devils would not go away. A basket by Collin Harrington with 4:35 left made it 62-56 in favor of Caldwell. But a three from Cricelli helped spark eight straight Caldwell points that put the Cougars ahead to stay, 70-56 with just under a minute to go. USP was able to claw back into the game by going 18-of-27 (66.7 percent) from the field in the second half.

Caldwell has used hot shooting to propel their three-game winning streak, shooting 52.0 percent or higher in all three victories. Georges led the Cougars with 24 points while making 5-of-7 from three-point range. Cricelli finished with 21 points and a team-high seven rebounds for his third straight game of 20 points or more. Junior guards Michael Wise (Whitesboro, NJ/Middletownship) and Hans Stelzer (Selden, NY/Our Savior), left, combined to dish out 11 of Caldwell's 19 assists on the night. Kurtz led all scorers with 25 points for USP.

Caldwell hosts a non-conference game against Adelphi University of the East Coast Conference on Tuesday, Jan. 30. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Newman Center.