CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College men's basketball team went down 16-0 in the first six minutes and 24 seconds of the game and never recovered, losing to Nyack College, 76-63 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest Thursday evening in the George R. Newman Center. The Cougars fall to 10-12 overall and 6-5 in the conference with the loss, while the Warriors improve to 8-16, 5-8 CACC.

Nyack opened the game making 6-of-13 from the field and grabbing six offensive rebounds in the 16-0 run, while the Cougars missed their first five shots and committed six turnovers. Junior guard John Reed (Wall, NJ/Wall) ended the drought with a lay-up with 13:13 on the clock. Caldwell never got closer than 12 points in the first half, as the Warriors took a 37-21 lead into the halftime break.

The visiting Warriors built the lead up to 17 at 41-24 before the Cougars made a push. A three-pointer by freshman guard Malcolm Austin (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Acad.) with 13:08 remaining capped an 11-1 run that cut the deficit to seven, 42-35. But five consecutive points from Andrew Williams off offensive rebounds put the Warriors ahead 47-35, and the Cougars never came closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Nyack tallied 21 second chance points and scored 21 points off of turnovers in the game.

Senior forward Manny Perez (Egg Harbor Twp., NJ/Egg Harbor Twp.) led all players with 23 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Freshman center Peter Diffley (Bellerose, NY/Episcopal), pictured, added 11 points and six boards for Caldwell. Valiant Jones pace the Warriors with 21 points and seven rebounds while hitting 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Williams finished with 15 points.

Next up for the Cougars is a home game against Holy Family University on Saturday, Feb. 14. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. in the Newman Center.