WALTHAM, Mass. – The Caldwell College men's basketball team gave second-ranked Bentley College all it could handle on its own court before falling, 59-56 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Northeast Region Tournament Saturday evening at Bentley's Dana Athletics Center. The loss ends the Cougars' season with a record of 19-12, while the Falcons remain unbeaten at 30-0. This is the first appearance in the NCAA Tournament for Caldwell, which won the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament last weekend.
The first half remained close throughout, with the Cougars eventually grabbing a 19-16 lead on a lay-up by sophomore center Michael Luzzi (Mount Arlington, NJ/Morris Catholic) at the 8:20 mark. A 5-0 run by Bentley, including a three from Yusuf Abdul-Ali, put the Falcons up 21-19 before a basket by senior guard Jean Georges (Vauxhal, NJ/Spotswood), right, tied the game at 21-21 with 4:30 on the clock. Back-to-back three-pointers by Nate Fritsch gave Bentley a 27-21 advantage with just under 3:00 in the half. But a three-pointer by junior guard Michael Wise (Whitesboro, NJ/Middletownship) and a basket from freshman forward Sam Cricelli (Brighton, England/Culham) at the buzzer made the halftime score 29-26 in favor of Bentley. Wise led Caldwell with 10 points in the first half.
The Falcons built the lead back up to seven at the start of the second half before the Cougars reeled off a 16-5 run to take a 42-37 advantage with 10:21 to play. The spree included two three-pointers and eight points from junior forward B.J. Suchy (Ronkonkoma, NY/Our Savior) and a pair of baskets by Luzzi. The Falcons regained the upper hand by out-scoring Caldwell 8-2 over the next two minutes to hold a 45-44 advantage. The lead changed hands three more times, with the Cougars grabbing a 54-52 lead on a Georges' steal and lay-up with 2:46 remaining.
On Bentley's next possession, Lew Finnegan answered with a three-pointer to put the Falcons on top, 55-54 with 2:28 on the clock. A free throw and a basket by Fritsch made it 58-54 at the one-minute mark before Cricelli's jumper pulled Caldwell to within two, 58-56 with 39 seconds left. Abdul-Ali was fouled with 17 seconds remaining, but he missed both free throws. On the second, however, the ball went out of bounds off a Caldwell player, giving the ball back to Bentley. Fritsch was fouled and made the first free throw but missed the second, leaving the Cougars behind 59-56 with six seconds left. Wise dribbled into the frontcourt and put up a three-point attempt from the left side, but the ball bounced off the rim as time expired, ending Caldwell's hopes of an upset.
Bentley held slight advantages in field goal shooting (47.8 percent to 42.0 percent) and rebounding (32-27) but made just 4-of-11 from the charity stripe. Georges scored a team-high 16 points to finish his stellar career with 1,447 points. The first team all-CACC honoree ranks fifth on Caldwell's all-time scoring list. Suchy and Wise (left) each tallied 12 points, with Cricelli recording 10 points and a game-high eight boards. Fritsch was the only Falcon to score in double-figures with a game-best 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting.
The Cougars, coached by Mark Corino, return 10 of their 11 players on the roster for the 2007-08 season.
