Box Score
SPARKILL, N.Y. – A lay-up by freshman guard Dawan Lighty (Paterson, NJ/Kennedy) as time expired gave the Caldwell College men's basketball team a 77-75 overtime victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College in the season finale Tuesday night at Aquinas Hall. The Cougars close out the season with an 8-20 record, while the Spartans fall to 5-22.

After a pair of Lighty free throws tied the score at 75-75 with 28 seconds left in overtime, the Spartans held the ball for the last shot. A lay-up attempt by Omar Kellman bounced on the rim and off, with sophomore guard Kevin Walker (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) grabbing the rebound. Walker quickly passed the ball into the frontcourt to Lighty, who raced ahead of his defender and laid the ball off the glass and in just as the final buzzer sounded. The victory ended the Cougars' six-game losing streak.

Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, as St. Thomas Aquinas took a 36-32 lead at the break. The Spartans pushed the lead to as many as nine points after halftime, taking a 50-41 advantage with 14:12 remaining. But the Cougars battled back, using three-pointers by Lighty, freshman forward Billy McDonald (North Haven, CT/North Haven) and sophomore guard Wyatt Polk (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield) to ignite an 18-3 run that put Caldwell on top, 59-53 with 6:47 left.

After the Spartans came back and tied the score at 60-60 on a three from Nick Lopez, Walker answered with a three-pointer for a 63-60 Caldwell lead with three minutes remaining. The lead was still three when a free throw from Kellman and a basket by Sam Wilson tied the score again at 65-65 with 1:06 on the clock. The teams both went 1-of-2 from the line on their next possessions, and a three-point attempt by Sean James at the end of regulation did not connect, sending the game to overtime.

The extra session became a free throw shooting contest, with the teams combining for 16 trips to the line in overtime. After four free throws from sophomore forward Michael Balkovic (Neptune, NJ/St. John Vianney) and a lay-up by senior forward Karel Thuwis (Zonhoven, Belgium/Brehm Prep) made the score 72-69 Caldwell, James tied the score with a three at the 3:18 mark. T.J. Jones and Thuwis each made 1-of-2 from the line, then James hit two free throws to give the hosts a 75-73 edge with 36 seconds left. Lighty then set the stage for the exciting finish, tying the score at 75-75 with two more from the line. The win is the 489th career victory for head coach Mark Corino, who ranks third all-time among men's college basketball coaches in New Jersey.

Polk led all players with 22 points to go with nine rebounds, while Balkovic finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Lighty added 11 points and three steals, and freshman guard Brian Kenny (Howell, NJ/Jackson Memorial) had eight points and four assists. Jones led the Spartans with 20 points.

The exciting win also marked the final collegiate game for senior forwards Thuwis, Kairo Rochford (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) and Arthur Morrison (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan), who suffered a season-ending injury on Dec. 15.