CALDWELL, N.J. - Freshman guard Wyatt Polk (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield) poured in 33 points as the Caldwell College men's basketball team defeated Nyack College, 94-69 in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest Tuesday night in the George R. Newman Center. With the win, the Cougars are now 10-8 overall and 5-6 in the conference, while Nyack falls to 0-18, 0-8 CACC.
Polk entered the game with Caldwell trailing 18-13 with 12:32 left in the first half and scored 15 points to help the Cougars take a 42-37 lead at the half. Both teams shot the ball well during the game's first 20 minutes, with Caldwell shooting 58.6 percent from the floor compared to 50.0 percent for the Warriors.
The lead grew to nine points early in the second half before Nyack scored seven straight points to cut the deficit to two, 55-53 with 13:11 to play. Polk pushed the lead back up to 10, 63-53, with six points in an 8-0 run. The Warriors mounted another comeback, as Chris Hampton scored eight points during a three-minute stretch that made the score 67-63 Caldwell with 7:18 remaining. After that, it was all Caldwell, as three baskets by Polk began a victory-clinching 27-6 run to close out the game. Senior guard Nikola Otovic (Kraljevo, Serbia) had nine points and senior center Peter Diffley (Bellerose, NY/Episcopal) scored six points in the run that wrapped up the win for the Cougars.
Caldwell continued its hot shooting hand, making a season-best 57.6 percent from the field for the game. The defense also tightened up, as the Cougars limited the Warriors to 36.4 percent shooting after halftime.
Polk was 15-of-21 from the field, including 2-of-4 from three-point range, en route to a career-high 33 points. His previous high was eight points in a win over Dowling on Dec. 28. Otovic ended up with 22 points while matching his career high of nine assists. Diffley added 11 points and four rebounds. The Warriors were led by Hampton with 19 points and five assists.
Caldwell returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 26 with a CACC game at Post University. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. in Waterbury, Conn.
