CALDWELL, N.J. - The Caldwell College men's basketball team lost a non-conference game to St. Michael's College, 63-58 Saturday afternoon in the George R. Newman Center. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 6-4 on the season, while the Purple Knights of the Northeast-10 Conference improve to 4-6.

St. Michael's grabbed control of the game with a 28-11 run capped by a three-pointer by Corey Crawford at the 3:24 mark that made the score 35-18 Purple Knights. Crawford's trey was the seventh three-pointer of the first half for St. Michael's, as the visitors led 35-20 at halftime. Caldwell struggled from the field in the first half, shooting 33.3 percent (8-of-24), including 1-of-8 from three-point range.

The start of the second half saw more of the same, with the Purple Knights leading by as many as 19 points. With St. Michael's holding a commanding 49-32 advantage with 12:19 remaining, Caldwell got back into the game with a 16-4 run. Freshman forward Michael Balkovic (Neptune, NJ/St. John Vianney) scored nine points in the run that cut the deficit to 53-48 with 7:31 on the clock.

The Purple Knight still led 59-53 with 2:33 left to play when a basket by senior guard Anthony Gill (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) and a steal by senior guard Nik Otovic (Kraljevo, Serbia) that turned into a three-point play made it a one-point game, 59-58 with 1:45 to go. After Balkovic blocked Derek Knutty's shot on the next possession, a three-point attempt by Gill was tipped by Tom Ward. Travis Warech's driving lay-up on the next possession put the Purple Knights on top 61-58, and the Cougars came up empty on their final three possessions to suffer their second loss in a row.

Caldwell shot 53.6 percent from the field in the second half while holding St. Michael's to 31.6 percent to fuel the comeback. Twenty-four of the Cougars' 38 second-half points came in the paint compared to six points down low for the Purple Knights. Otovic ended up with team highs of 18 points and six rebounds to go with four steals. Gill had 15 points and Balkovic added 12 points, while freshman guard Kevin Walker (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) tallied seven points, four assists and a career-best five steals. Ward and Warech paced St. Michael's with 13 points apiece.

The Cougars host Dowling College in a non-conference game on Wednesday, Dec. 28. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. in the Newman Center.