CALDWELL, N.J. - A driving lay-up by junior guard Carl Augustin (Stony Point, NY/Don Bosco Prep) with six seconds on the clock allowed the Caldwell College men's basketball team to defeat Nyack College, 54-53 in the regular-season finale Wednesday night at the George R. Newman Center. The victory wraps up second place in the CACC North Division for the Cougars, who are now 11-16 overall and 9-7 in the conference. Nyack finished its season at 11-16, 6-10 CACC.
With the Cougars trailing 53-50, junior center Michael Luzzi (Mount Arlington, NJ/Morris Catholic) made 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make the score 53-51 with 1:25 remaining. After the teams each failed to score on their next possessions, Luzzi blocked a lay-up attempt by John Vandunk with the clock winding down. Junior forward Tyler Emmons (Portland, ME/Portland) was fouled after grabbing the rebound, then made 1-of-2 at the line to make the score 53-52 Nyack with 11 seconds to play. Vandunk gathered the rebound off Emmons' miss and is fouled. He then misses the front end of a 1-and-1, with senior guard Michael Wise (Whitesboro, NJ/Middle Twp.) collecting the rebound. Augustin takes the ball and drives to the basket, where he is fouled before making the go-ahead lay-up with six seconds left. Augustin missed the free throw, but Vandunk turned the ball over as time expires.
The Cougars completed the comeback after trailing by as many as 14 points in the second half. Nyack, which took a 28-24 halftime lead, scored the first eight points of the second half to take a commanding 38-24 advantage at the 17:31 mark. Caldwell used a 13-2 run to cut the deficit to 44-42 midway through the half. A basket by sophomore guard Eddie Crockett (Passaic, NJ/Passaic) with 5:17 to play gave the Cougars their first lead of the second half at 48-47. The lead exchanged hands twice before back-to-back baskets by James Oyamo put Nyack ahead 53-50 with 2:22 left.
Crockett scored 11 points to lead Caldwell, which received nine points and three steals from Wise and seven points and six boards from Luzzi. The Cougars shot 50.0 percent from the floor compared to 36.0 percent for Nyack, which was led by Vandunk's 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The win marked the final regular-season home game for seniors Wise, Adam Sabree (Detroit, MI/Renaissance) Hans Stelzer (Selden, NY/Our Savior New American), B.J. Suchy (Ronkonkoma, NY/Our Savior New American).
The Cougars will host Dominican College on Saturday, Mar. 1 in the quarterfinals of the CACC Tournament. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. in the Newman Center.
