NEWARK, Del. – The Caldwell University men's basketball team secured a spot in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament with a 75-71 victory at Wilmington University Saturday afternoon in the WU Athletics Complex. The Cougars improve to 14-12 overall and 10-8 in the conference to tie for third in the CACC North with Bloomfield College. Caldwell hosts the Bears in the regular-season finale on Tuesday.

Junior guard Dawan Lighty (Paterson, NJ/Kennedy) helped the Cougars get off to a good start by scoring 13 points and draining three three-pointers in building a 20-9 lead. The Caldwell defense tightened up, holding the Wildcats to just 28.1 percent shooting from the floor as the Cougars took a 30-22 advantage at the break. Lighty ended up with 17 points in the first half while making six of his nine field goal attempts.

In the second half, Wilmington had a hard time stopping senior forward Michael Balkovic (Neptune, NJ/St. John Vianney), who hit his first three shots after halftime as Caldwell took a 41-33 edge. The Wildcats battled back to reduce the deficit to four, 46-42, only to have the Cougars tally the next eight points capped by threes from junior guard Salvatore Vitello (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) and Balkovic for a 54-42 lead with 9:07 remaining. After Caldwell took its largest lead of the game, 70-55 with 2:29 left, the Wildcats made it close with a 16-4 run punctuated by a three-pointer from Tyaire Ponzo-Meek that brought Wilmington within three, 74-71 with eight seconds on the clock. But forward Billy McDonald (North Haven, CT/North Haven) hit a free throw in the game's final seconds to wrap up the win.

Balkovic made 8-of-9 from the field in the second half and 10-of-11 for the game en route to 27 points and 13 rebounds to lead all players. Lighty finished with 20 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Kevin Walker (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) scored 11 points, all in the second half, and added four assists and four rebounds. Ponzo-Meek led Wilmington with 18 points.

The Cougars conclude the regular season by hosting Bloomfield on Tuesday, Feb. 24. A Caldwell win gives the Cougars the North's third seed in the upcoming CACC Tournament, while Bloomfield can take the second seed with a win. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in the George R. Newman Center.