CALDWELL, N.J.- Caldwell University men's basketball junior Derek Dorn (New Rochelle, N.Y.) dropped in 16 points but the Cougars battled valiantly in a 70-67 loss to Bloomfield College in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Cougars season ends at 17-12, while the Bears advance to Sunday's championship game against Dominican College.

The teams traded leads throughout the first half with Bloomfield settling in with a 23-17 lead at the 7:21 mark of the opening half. The Cougars rallied back with a 12-0 run to take a six-point lead. Freshman Vaughn Covington (Sicklerville, N.J.) netted eight points with a pair from downtown to bring Caldwell back. He scored in the paint at the 4:28 mark to put the Cougars ahead 29-23.
 
The Bears closed the gap late as they pulled even at 34 with under a minute to play. Covington answered for Caldwell as he connected on a three-pointer from the corner to put the Cougars ahead 37-34 at halftime.
 
Caldwell got off to a strong start in the second half as they opened up an eight-point lead at 47-39 with 15:10 to play in the game. Senior Austin Woods (Milford, Conn.) and freshman Eric Johnson-Alford (Clifton, N.J.) each scored four points early the second half to help the Cougars extend their lead.
 
Bloomfield cut the score down to 49-46 at the 12:44 mark but Caldwell answered. Dorn netted back-to-back buckets to push the Cougars lead back to seven points at 53-46 with 12:13 remaining in the game.
 
The Bears battled back to tie the score at 55 near the midway point of the second half. Dorn and sophomore Thomas Elliott-Smith (Plymouth, England) scored as the Cougars pushed ahead by four points. Bloomfield netted six straight points as they pushed ahead 61-59 with seven minutes to play.
 
Caldwell rallied one final time as Covington netted a pair at the line. Following a Bloomfield free throw, Dorn drained a jumper to give Caldwell a 63-62 with 4:51 left in the game. Bloomfield scored six unanswered points to retake the lead and stretched it to 68-63 with 2:14 remaining in the game.
 
The teams traded buckets as freshman Zay Jennings (Allentown, Pa.) scored at the 1:40 mark but Bloomfield matched his hoop with under a minute to play. Woods drained a jumper to keep the score at three points. The Bears missed four free throws in the final seconds but Caldwell was unable to capitalize and a full court heave at the buzzer missed the mark.
 
Dorn paced the Cougars with 16 points, three rebounds and six assists. Covington tallied 15 points, six assists, four boards and two steals. Freshman Ruud Lutterman (Gorinchem, Netherlands) totaled eight points and four rebounds, while Johnson-Alford chipped in seven points and four rebounds.
 
Woods, playing in his final game as a Cougar, shot 5-for-6 from the field as he finished with 12 points, three rebounds and two blocks.