ALBANY, N.Y.- Caldwell University men's basketball junior Anthony Cooper (Ashburn, Va.) finished with a double-double to lead the #5 seed Cougars to an upset victory over #4 seed Dominican College in the 2021 NCAA Division II Championship East Regional Quarterfinals.
 
The Cougars improve to 6-4 on the season, while the Chargers end their season at 4-4.
 
The Cougars advance to the regional semifinals for the first time in program history where they will face top seed St. Thomas Aquinas College on Sunday, March 14 at 6 pm. The game will be played at the Albany Capital Center in Albany, New York and no spectators will be permitted to attend.
 
Head Coach Mark A. Corino in his post-game press conference commented, "I am very happy and proud of the way the guys played tonight. I think they were determined to get a W. They came out and played very well early. I thought we did a good job defensively early on. We held on and did the things we needed to do to win the game."
 
Coach Corino, coaching in his second NCAA D2 Tournament game, guided the Cougars to the program's first NCAA post-season victory with the win over conference rival Dominican.
 
Both teams got off to a slow start as they traded leads over the first 10 minutes of the opening half. The Cougars opened up a double-digit lead with an 11-0 run to push ahead 22-11 with 8:25 left in the half. Graduate Gerald Blount (Jersey City, N.J.) netted four points, while freshman Daniel Dade Jr. (Springfield, Mass.) added a trifecta in the run.
 
Dominican closed the gap to nine points but the Cougars finished the half strong. Dade Jr. and freshman Jarnel Rancy (Middle Island, N.Y.) each connected on three-pointers over the final eight minutes of the half. Cooper and Dade Jr. each scored 10 points in the half as the Cougars held a 39-24 halftime lead.
 
The Chargers used a 12-2 run to start the second half to cut the score to 41-36 with 16:33 remaining in the game. Cooper and freshman Ty-Shon Pannell (Central Islip, N.Y.) drained triples, while Blount added a bucket to help the Cougars extend their lead to 49-40 midway through the half.
 
Dominican battled back to close the gap to 54-50 with 6:19 left in the second half. The Cougars answered the call with Dade Jr. and Cooper leading the way to push their lead to 61-53 with 2:04 left in the game.
 
The Chargers netted six straight points to cut the score to 61-59 with under a minute to play but the Cougars hung tough in the final minute.
 
Cooper scored a bucket and Dade Jr. drained a pair from the line in the final 30 seconds to seal the upset victory for the Cougars.
 
Cooper recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds along with two assists. Dade Jr. added 16 points and six assists, while Blount finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Senior Manley Dorme (Nanuet, N.Y.) totaled seven points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, while Rancy tallied eight points, six boards and three blocks.
 
The Cougars continue their season on Sunday, March 14 as they take on top seed St. Thomas Aquinas College in the 2021 NCAA D2 East Regional Semifinals at 6 pm.