CALDWELL, N.J.- The Caldwell University men's basketball team opened up their home schedule with an 80-60 win against the NYIT Bears in a non-conference game. The Cougars improve to 1-2 on the season, while the Bears drop to 1-2.
 
The teams traded leads in the early going as the Bears jumped ahead by four points at the 13:40 mark. Caldwell ripped off the next seven points, keyed by a Billy McDonald (North Haven, CT) three-point play as the Cougars retook the lead. The Cougars pushed their lead to 12 points with a 22-6 run as Caldwell pulled ahead 32-20 with 5:14 left in the half. NYIT shaved the score down to seven but the Cougars rallied back to lead 39-29 at halftime.
 
The Cougars continued their strong play into the second half as NYII got as close as seven points early in the half. Caldwell kept the Bears at bay as the Cougars held a double digit lead over the final 10 minutes to close out the game.
 
Seniors Dawan Lighty (Paterson, NJ) and McDonald led the way with 17 points each, with Lighty chipping in seven boards. McDonald was efficient from the field as he shot 8-for-11 for the game, while senior Salvatore Vitello (Bridgewater, NJ) tallied 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Freshman Thomas Elliott-Smith (Plymouth, England) finished with eight points and three boards, while junior Christian Ejiga (Laconia, NH) totaled six points and five rebounds.
 
The Cougars are back in action on Thursday, November 19 as they travel to Molloy College for a non-conference game at 7:30 pm.