CALDWELL, N.J.- Caldwell University men's basketball sophomore Derrick Bueno (Palisades Park, N.J.) turned in a career-day in points and rebounds, while sophomore Jarnel Rancy (Middle Island, N.Y.) recorded a late block in overtime to lift the Cougars to a 97-95 overtime victory against Thomas Jefferson University in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest.
 
The Cougars run their win streak to nine as they improve to 17-7 overall and 13-2 in the CACC, while the
Rams fall to 13-11 and 9-5 in conference play.
 
Freshman Landon Shivers (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) drained a pair of early triples as the Cougars jumped out to a 12-4 lead over the first six minutes of the game. The Rams rallied back as they pushed ahead 20-19 with under eight minutes to play in the half.
 
Caldwell answered as freshman Moussa Ngom (Centreville, Va.) converted a three-point play, while sophomore Mark Heber (Paterson, N.J.) drained a triple to put the Cougars back in front 25-22 at the 5:55 mark. Thomas Jefferson closed the half with a late run to pull ahead 43-36 at halftime.
 
The Rams scored the first five points of the second half to extend their lead to 48-36. The Cougars rallied back as freshman Kirk Parsons (Newark, N.J.) drained a triple, while Bueno converted a three-point in a run to help Caldwell even the score at 55 at the 12:06 mark.
 
Thomas Jefferson pushed ahead 63-57 midway through the half but Caldwell answered once again. The Cougars used a 13-2 run with freshman Darnell Evans (Deer Park, N.Y.) scoring eight points, including a three-point play with Heber drained a three-pointer to help Caldwell take a 70-65 lead with 7:10 left in the half.
 
The Rams rallied down the stretch, setting up a wild final 30 seconds of the second half. Thomas Jefferson drained a triple to take an 81-79 lead. Bueno answered for the Cougars with a tip-in to even the score. The Rams retook the lead with a tip-in off a miss with 2.4 seconds to play in the half. Following a timeout, Bueno launched a long pass down the court to Evans, who raced to the hoop for the game-tying basket with 0.9 seconds to play to force overtime.
 
Caldwell scored the first eight points of overtime to pull ahead 91-83 and held a 93-85 lead with just over a minute to play. Thomas Jefferson rallied down the stretch closing the gap to 95-92 but Heber drained a pair from the line. The Rams drew a foul and connected on three free throws to slice the score to two points. Following a Caldwell turnover, Thomas Jefferson had one final shot for the go-ahead three-point but Rancy's fourth block of the day proved to be decisive, giving the Cougars their ninth straight victory. Rancy's four blocks gives him 110 for the season, which breaks the CACC single season record of 109 previously held by London Houston of Holy Family University in 2007-08.
 
Bueno set new career-highs with 27 points and 19 rebounds along with two steals. Evans fell a point short of his career-best, finishing with 30 points, six boards, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Heber tallied 16 points, three assists and three steals, while Rancy totaled nine points, eight boards, four assists and four blocks.
 
The Cougars host Post University in a CACC contest on Tuesday, February 14 at 7:30 pm.