ORANGEBURG, N.Y. - The Caldwell College men's basketball team battled back from a nine-point deficit in the second half to tie the game in regulation, only to lose in overtime to Dominican College, 77-73 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference match-up Thursday night in the Hennessy Center. The loss drops the Cougars to 4-3 in the conference and 8-10 overall, while the Chargers improve to 8-11, 3-5 CACC.
Trailing 59-50 with seven minutes left in the second half, the Cougars rallied with a 16-7 run to tie the game at 66-66. Caldwell hit all 12 of their free throw attempts during the run, with senior forward Manny Perez (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.) scoring eight points. His free throws with 1:45 to play in regulation completed the comeback and tied the score at 66-66. Both teams came up empty on their remaining possessions, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra session, a Perez free throw gave the Cougars their first lead since early in the first half, 67-66. Dominican answered with a conventional three-point play by Brandon Brock and a basket by Tim Matchett that put the Chargers ahead 71-67. The lead remained four until a put-back by senior center Michael Luzzi (Ledgewood, NJ/Morris Catholic) made it 73-71 with 2:36 on the clock. A pair of missed shots by Dominican gave Caldwell two chances to tie the game, but the Cougars came up empty both times. Brock restored the four-point advantage with a basket with 45 seconds left, and a free throw by Abdul Sulaiman followed another missed shot by Caldwell to give Dominican a 76-71 lead. Luzzi hit a lay-up with six seconds left, but Brock sealed the game with a free throw with two seconds left.
Caldwell trailed for most of the first half until an 11-0 run, sparked by two threes from sophomore guard Dante Rollins (East Orange, NJ/Bloomfield Tech), gave the Cougars a 29-26 lead with just under five minutes to play in the first half. Dominican took back the lead with a 7-2 run to build a 33-31 advantage at the half. The Chargers stayed hot and opened the second half with a 10-1 spree for its largest lead of the game, 43-32. Caldwell was able to cut the deficit to three, 50-47 at the 11:23 mark after two free throws and a dunk by Perez. But Dominican maintained control of the game, scoring nine of the next 12 points to lead 59-50 before Caldwell began its comeback.
Perez finished with a game-high 24 points to go with eight rebounds and four steals. Perez, who tallied his second straight 24-point game, went 14-of-19 from the line while grabbing six offensive boards. Freshman guard Malcolm Austin (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Acad.) added 15 points and six rebounds. Brock led Dominican with 23 points, with Sulaiman tallying 11 points and a game-high 11 boards.
The Cougars return home to host Post University on Tuesday, Feb. 3 in a CACC North Division clash. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. in the George R. Newman Center.
