ORANGEBURG, N.Y.- The Caldwell University men's basketball team rallied back from a halftime deficit to down Saint Michael's College 80-70 to close out play at the Daniel Sullivan Memorial Tournament hosted at Dominican College.  
 
The Cougars improve to 2-3 on the season, while the Purple Knights fall to 2-3.
 
The Purple Knights got off to a fast start as they opened up a 21-6 lead over the first seven minutes of the game. The Cougars battled back as they closed the gap to 32-27 following a bucket by sophomore Anthony Cooper (Ashburn, Va.) at the 2:36 mark.  
 
Saint Michael's pushed their lead back to 10 points with under a minute to play in the half. Caldwell netted the last five points of the half as senior AJ Kittles (Glassboro, N.J.) scored in the paint and Cooper drained a triple at the buzzer.
 
Caldwell took control to start the second half as they used an 18-1 run to pull ahead by double digits. Freshman Gabe Johnson (Bloomfield, N.J.) connected on a pair of three-pointers in the run, while senior Eric Johnson-Alford (Clifton, N.J.) added four points. Senior Vaughn Covington (Sicklerville, N.J.) capped the run with a jumper to put the Cougars up 52-40 with 13:22 left in the game.
 
The Purple Knights got as close as six points at 68-62 with 6:08 left in the game but the Cougars answered down the stretch. Junior Manley Dorme (Nanuet, N.Y.) netted five points, including a three-point play, while Cooper added a trifecta in the final three minutes.
 
Cooper led the way with 20 points, six boards and two assists. Johnson tallied 13 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals. Senior Ruud Lutterman (Dalem, Netherlands) recorded 11 points, four boards, two assists and two blocks, while Dorme finished with nine points and three rebounds. Kittles totaled seven points, three boards, four assists and three steals.
 
The Cougars open conference play on Wednesday, November 20 as they travel to Dominican College for a 7:30 pm tip-off against the Chargers.