WILMINGTON, Del. - The Caldwell College men's basketball team dropped a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference game at Goldey-Beacom College on Saturday, losing 84-73 in the Jones Center. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 6-9 overall, including a 3-4 mark in league play, while the Lightning improves to 11-7, 7-2 CACC.
Goldey-Beacom held the upper hand early in the game, leading by as many as eight points after a three-pointer by Terrence Parkes put the Lightning up 24-16 at the 10:30 mark. Caldwell answered with seven straight points, including five points from sophomore guard Robert McPherson (Bowie, MD/Bullis), to cut the deficit to one, 24-23. Goldey-Beacom held on to the lead the rest of the half, eventually taking a 39-35 advantage into the halftime break. The Cougars limited the Lightning to 35.5 percent shooting from the field while making 48.1 percent to keep the score close.
In the first minute of the second half, Caldwell tied the game at 39-39 on baskets by junior center Peter Diffley (Bellerose, NY/Episcopal) and senior forward Antonio Brimley (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Eastside). But the Lightning did not relinquish the lead, instead building its lead up to as many as 10 points. With Caldwell trailing 62-52 with just over nine minutes remaining, lay-ups by sophomore forward Arthur Morrison (Phillipsburg, NJ/APEX) and junior guards Don Trifari (Montville, NJ/Paul Robeson) and Nik Otovic (Kraljevo, Serbia) pulled the Cougars to within five, 63-58 with 6:52 on the clock. That's as close as Caldwell would get, as the hosts continued to shoot well and keep the Cougars on the short end of the score. The Lightning ended up making 55.6 percent from the floor in the second half, while enjoying a massive 40-8 advantage in free throw attempts for the game.
As they have for most of the season, the Cougars received a significant offensive contribution from their bench, getting 46 points from their non-starters. Morrison, pictured, came off the pine to match starter Otovic with 14 points while grabbing a team-leading six rebounds. McPherson contributed 13 points in a reserve roll, with junior guard Derrick Ross (Newark, NJ/Newark Westside) equaling his season high with 10 points off the bench. Parkes led all players with 22 points and 13 rebounds for Goldey-Beacom, which received 17 points, four assists and four steals from Azeez Ellegood.
Caldwell returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 27 with a home game against CACC foe Post University. The opening tip is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in the George R. Newman Center.
