CALDWELL, N.J. - Senior guard Hans Stelzer (Selden, NY/Our Savior) dished out a career-high 13 assists to help the Caldwell College men's basketball team win its season opener over visiting Belmont Abbey College, 97-71 in a non-conference game Saturday afternoon at the George R. Newman Center. Stelzer was a catalyst for a Cougar offense that made 58.9 percent of its field goal attempts and 60 percent from three-point range. The loss drops the Crusaders of Belmont, N.C., to 1-4 on the season.
Senior guard Michael Wise (Whitesboro, NJ/Middle Township) opened the game with a three-pointer, and the Cougars never looked back, building a 29-9 advantage through 10 minutes of the first half. After Belmont Abbey cut the deficit to 35-23 with 4:53 left in the half, Caldwell closed out the first period with an 18-3 run that started with a three from Wise and ended with another three by sophomore forward Sam Cricelli (Brighton, England/Culham) for a 53-26 halftime bulge. The Cougars made a sizzling 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from beyond the arc in the half, with Wise and Cricelli making all three of their attempts and Stelzer and senior forward B.J. Suchy (Ronkonkoma, NY/Our Savior) making two apiece.
The Crusaders started hitting from long range in the second half, as four three-pointers by Deonte Murphy pulled Belmont Abbey to within 67-50 with 12:18 to go. But the Cougars scored the next 10 points to lead 77-50 with nine minutes left to put the game out of reach. Caldwell's depth was too much to overcome for the Crusaders, as five Cougars scored in double figures.
Stelzer found open teammates all game long to surpass his previous career high of nine assists. He also had just two turnovers while scoring six points. Cricelli led his team with 16 points and eight rebounds while making all four of his three-point shots. Senior guard Adam Sabree (Detroit, MI/Renaissance) was 5-of-6 from the floor and finished with 14 points, while Wise and sophomore forward Tyler Emmons (Portland, ME/Portland) both scored 13 points. Suchy tallied 11 points and three assists in the win. Murphy led all scorers with 22 points, with Richard Barbee netting 17 points and five rebounds for the Crusaders.
The win is the 430th career victory for Caldwell head coach Mark Corino, who is the winningest active men's college basketball coach in the state of New Jersey. He now ranks fourth all-time among New Jersey men's college hoops coaches in wins.
The Cougars will play two more teams from North Carolina next weekend, when they travel to Wingate, N.C. for the OrthoCarolina Classic, hosted by Wingate University. The tournament begins with a meeting with the eighth-ranked Bulldogs on Friday, Nov. 30 at 8:00 p.m. The Cougars then face Fayetteville State on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
