MEN'S BASKETBALL COMPLETES SEASON WITH OVERTIME LOSS
TO HOLY FAMILY IN ECAC SEMIFINALS
3-12-05
box score
 BRIDGEPORT,
Conn. - The Caldwell College men's basketball team lost to Holy Family
University, 91-87 in overtime in the semifinals of the ECAC Tournament
at the University of Bridgeport's Bruce Webster Court Saturday
afternoon. The loss ends the Cougars' season at 17-15, while the Tigers
improve to 19-10 and advance to Sunday's title game. This was the third
meeting between the two Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference schools,
which split the regular-season series.
Holy Family led by as many as nine points in the first half until a 15-5
Caldwell run sparked by points from five different players gave the
Cougars their first lead of the game, 23-22 at the 5:37 mark. Four
points by senior guard Ron Harris (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central),
pictured, and two from freshman guard Adam Sabree (Detroit,
MI/Renaissance) helped the Cougars take a 29-26 lead into the break.
A strong start allowed Caldwell to build its lead up to as many as seven
points. But a 9-2 run by Holy Family, capped by a lay-up from center Bob
Presner, made the score 45-45 with 10:35 on the clock for the first of
nine ties in the second half. A three-pointer and lay-up from freshman
guard Michael Wise (Whitesboro, NJ/Middletownship) gave the
Cougars a 52-47 lead with 7:50 to go, but the Tigers answered with a
three from Chris Kozole. From that point on, neither team would lead by
more than two points for the remainder of regulation.
With the game tied at 67-67 with just over a minute to play, a lay-up by
junior forward Teren Scudder (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) put
Caldwell up by two with just 16 seconds to go. Andrew Presner answered
with a three-pointer to give the Tigers a 70-69 lead. After the Cougars
misfired on their next possession, Bob Presner was immediately fouled
after grabbing the rebound. His two free throws put Holy Family up by
three with just two seconds on the clock. Harris' long pass found
sophomore guard Jean Georges (Vauxhal, NJ/Spotswood) on the right
side of the court. Georges put up a three-point attempt at the buzzer
that was off the mark, but the Tigers' Ryan Haigh fouled Georges, who
went to the line to shoot three. He made all three free throws with no
time on the clock, sending the game into overtime.
The Cougars' good fortune didn't carry over into the extra session, as
Holy Family built an eight-point lead midway through the overtime
period. The Cougars battled back to cut the lead to two points three
times in the final minute, but the Tigers made their free throws down
the stretch to seal the victory.
Harris led the Cougars with 27 points and three steals in his final
collegiate game. Harris finished his career with 794 points in two
seasons at Caldwell to rank 17th on the school's all-time scoring list.
His 183 steals rank fourth in the program's history. Freshman forward
Manny Perez (Egg Harbor, NJ/Egg Harbor) tallied 20 points and seven
rebounds, while Scudder finished with a season-high 12 points to go with
a team-best nine rebounds. Bob Presner led all scorers with 29 points
and 15 rebounds.
The Cougars, who finished third in the CACC with a conference record of
14-6, advanced to the finals of the CACC Tournament for the second time
in four years with wins over N.J.I.T. and the University of Sciences.
This was Caldwell's first invitation to participate in the ECAC Men's
Basketball Tournament.
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