CALDWELL, N.J. - Junior guard Carl Augustin (Stony Point, NY/Don Bosco Prep), pictured, scored a career-high 18 points off the bench to spark the Caldwell College men's basketball team to a 49-45 victory over Dominican College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game Wednesday night in the George R. Newman Center. The victory improves the Cougars to 7-12 overall and ties them with the Chargers (10-10) in the CACC North standings at 5-4.
The two teams battled back and forth in the first half, which saw eight ties and seven lead changes. With the Cougars trailing 21-19 at the four-minute mark, Augustin converted a conventional three-point play with three minutes on the clock for a 22-21 lead. The play ignited a 10-0 Caldwell run that put the Cougars on top 29-21 with 26 seconds to go in the half. Two free throws from Tim Matchett allowed Dominican to cut the deficit to 29-23 at halftime.
The second half proved to be a defensive struggle, as the teams combined to score just nine points in the first five minutes. Augustin scored Caldwell's first points of the half with a three-pointer with 16:36 to play. A lay-up by junior forward Manny Perez (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.) at the 15-minute mark gave Caldwell its largest lead of the game, 34-25. But a 9-1 run capped by a three-pointer from Brendan McManus brought the Chargers to within one, 35-34 with 11:44 remaining. The Cougars regained control of the game with a 10-4 run, buoyed by six points from Augustin and four from Perez, that gave Caldwell a 45-38 advantage with 4:42 left. Dominican came within two points with 24 seconds on the clock and had a chance to take the lead, but a missed three-pointer and two free throws from senior guard Michael Wise (Whitesboro, NJ/Middle Twp.) wrapped up the win for Caldwell.
The Cougars won the game despite shooting just 28.6 percent from the floor in the second half. Augustin, whose previous career high was 14 points, was 6-of-11 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line. He also had five rebounds and two steals. Senior forward B.J. Suchy (Ronkonkoma, NY/Our Savior New American) scored 11 points, while Perez pulled down a game-high 11 boards to help the Cougars hold a 37-31 edge on the glass. Will Carty paced Dominican with 10 points and five steals.
Next up for Caldwell is another CACC North Division game with Felician College on Saturday, Feb. 2. The game is set to begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Newman Center.
