CALDWELL, N.J. - Senior guard Nikola Otovic (Kraljevo, Serbia) scored 20 points to lead the Caldwell College men's basketball team to an 81-70 victory over Mercy College in the first game of the 2011-2012 season Wednesday night in the George R. Newman Center. The win allows the Cougars to open up the year 1-0, while the Mavericks fall to 0-3.

Caldwell shot 55.6 percent from the field in the first half in leading by as many as nine points before taking a 40-36 advantage at the break. Mercy, which closed out the first half with five unanswered points, opened the second half with a 10-2 run to take a 46-42 lead with 15:20 to play. A three-pointer by Colin Senior and a dunk from Kortney Parker helped the Mavericks take their largest lead of the game, 56-49 at the 12:16 mark. A pair of Otovic free thows and a three-pointer by senior guard Anthony Gill (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) sparked a 16-4 Caldwell spree that put the Cougars on top, 65-60 with 5:38 to play. Gill had six points in the run that swung momentum in favor of the hosts. Mercy never came closer than two points the rest of the way, as Caldwell pushed the lead to as many as 13 points.

Free throw shooting played a role in the outcome of the game, as the Cougars hit 24-of-29 (82.8 percent) from the charity stripe compared to 17-of-32 (53.1 percent) for Mercy. Caldwell ended up shooting 51.0 percent from the floor for the game, while the Mavericks held a slight 36-35 advantage in rebounding, including 19 caroms on the offensive glass.

Otovic countered a 3-of-12 shooting performance from the field by making 14-of-15 from the line en route to a game-high 20 points. Gill, pictured, finished with 14 points, while freshman guard Kevin Walker (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) made a solid debut with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Junior forward Arthur Morrison (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) led the Cougars with seven rebounds and four assists to go with seven points, while senior center Peter Diffley (Bellerose, NY/Episcopal) had 10 points, six boards and three blocks. Senior paced Mercy with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Caldwell heads to Florida to play in the Eckerd College Tournament in St. Petersburg, facing Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday before taking on the host Tritons on Saturday.