CALDWELL, N.J. -- Six Cougars scored in double figures including senior guard Mark Heber (Paterson, N.J.) with 20, junior point guard Melvin Evans (Bronx, N.Y.) who came up two assists short of a triple-double, and junior guard Kirk Parsons (Newark, N.J.) drained six of his 13 points in OT, as men's basketball (17-10, 9-7 CACC) won the Battle for Bloomfield Ave. against Bloomfield College (13-14, 6-10 CACC) 89-85 in OT at the Newman Center.

Evans scored 12 points, had 11 rebounds, and eight assists.

It was a very exciting game that featured five ties and seven lead changes.

CU built an enormous 21 point lead (31-10) at the 9:37 minute of the first half. Bloomfield would cut into that deficit and eventually take the lead at 37-36 with 3:27 left in the half. The teams exchanged the lead several times, with Caldwell again going up by nine with 4:04 left but unable to shake off the Bears, who eventually tied the game at 76 with 0:55 left. Both teams missed shots in the final seconds to send it to overtime.

Again Caldwell went ahead early, establishing a six-point lead at 84-78 with 1:15 to go, and the free throw shooting by Parsons and Heber down the stretch sealed the win.

Senior forward Derrick Bueno (Palisades Park, N.J.), Heber, Parsons and junior guard Yarden Ashkenazi (Eliat, Israel) were honored as part of Senior Day festivities (the latter two are juniors but graduating and not planning to return in 2025-26).

Caldwell will head into its quarterfinal matchup against the North #1 seed Jefferson Rams in Philadelphia on Tuesday at 7:30 PM.