Twelve days before the CACC regular season comes to an end, all eight playoff participants were, amazingly, finalized on Tuesday. Here are the results that gleaned the wheat from the chaff, beginning with a huge battle for first in the North Division:
BLOOMFIELD 99 DOMINICAN 90
Keith Washington compiled 29 points, seven rebounds and five assists while playing all 40 minutes as Bloomfield outgunned Dominican in North Jersey for its seventh straight win and a two-game lead atop the standings. The Bears were holding a 66-62 advantage near the midway mark of the second half before embarking on an 11-3 run, capped by a Washington 3-pointer, to open things up at 77-65. The Chargers – who received 19 points (5-10 from 3) and career high-tying five steals from D.J. Rodwell – chiseled the deficit down to 91-83 with just 80 seconds left before a Washington lay-up sparked a 7-0 spurt that iced the contest at 98-83, rendering meaningless a 7-1 flurry by the visitors over the final 41 seconds. Kavione Green continued his absurd rebounding run for the winners, corralling a career-high 19 for a third straight game, to go along with 20 points, while Rich Chapman (17 points, all in the second half) and Dontay Julius (15 points, eight boards) also made key contributions. Jonathan Garcia double-doubled in defeat for Dominican with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Ian Gardener (16, 7), Tavon Ginyard (15 points off the bench) and Daniel Grant (13 points, eight assists) offered solid support for the Chargers, who are now just one game ahead of idle Caldwell for second. Bloomfield made more trips to the line (22-35 to 14-20) and snatched more rebounds (54-41) to aid its cause. The last player in the region to amass at least 57 rebounds over a three-game stretch was University of the Sciences superstar GARRET KERR, who racked up 58 between February 16-23, 2013.
FELICIAN 91 POST 87
The craziest game of the night took place 10 miles up the road as Felician rallied from 14 down in the second half to turn aside Post at Job Gym, moving within a game of idle Caldwell for third place and eliminating the Eagles from their playoff pursuit in painful fashion. Jay’von Jackson led the charge with 23 points for the Golden Falcons, who saw their 50-40 halftime lead dissolve into a 61-51 deficit thanks to a 21-1 Post avalanche over the first four-and-a-half minutes of the second period. The margin stretched to 71-57 with 11:31 to play and was still 83-71 inside of the final six minutes after 13 straight Eagles points by D.J. Jarrett (career-high 32 points, 9-15 from deep, six rebounds). The hosts then erupted for a 20-4 game-ending spree, allowing only one field goal over the last 7:16 to prevail, with Jaylen Colon (six points) providing the go-ahead lay-up at the 2:20 mark and Aziz Parker knocking down the clinching free throw with 17 seconds remaining. Zamir Wright logged 12 points and five assists for Felician, which also received 10 points apiece from three reserves: Parker, Manny Warren (six assists) and Dee-End McCrae (eight rebounds). Isaiah Holmes notched a personal-best 17 points (7-10 FG, 3-4 from downtown Rutherford) for Post, which also landed Tamas Okros (12 points, 11 caroms) and Tyshon Rogers (10 points, nine rebounds, six assists in a reserve role) in double figures. The Eagles were a tad better from the floor (49%-47%) and more prolific from beyond the arc (14-29 to 8-22) but were tripled at the foul line (15-27 to 5-14).
NYACK 73 CONCORDIA 69
Concordia also bowed out of the playoff race after falling to Nyack at Bowman Gym. Gemaal Davis tossed in 25 points (10-10 FT) and snared eight rebounds for the Warriors, who snapped a 10-game losing skid with the result. Jah-Meer McDuffie (15 points, eight rebounds) and Shawn Witherspoon (13 points, 3-4 from long range, four assists) also played well for the hosts, who won despite being outshot (47%-38%) and barely outrebounded (37-36). They made up for those deficiencies at the stripe (18-22 to 6-9) and in the assist column (13-4). A 10-0 Clippers run shaved a 51-36 shortfall to a workable 51-46, and they drew within a single point twice down the stretch, including 70-69 after a Cedric McFadden trey with nine seconds on the clock. Davis was immediately fouled and connected on both of his tosses to restore the three-point lead. The Warriors fouled McFadden, who missed the crucial front end of his one-and-one before Calvin Willis capped the scoring at the line with three seconds to go – his only point of the night. Baron Goodridge was high man for Concordia with 25 points off the bench (9-15 FG, 5-7 from distance), while McFadden finished with 15.
JEFFERSON 68 GEORGIAN COURT 64
The first regional team to clinch a division title is Jefferson, which squeaked past upset-minded Georgian Court in Lakewood for its 14th straight triumph and record seventh South crown in 12 years of divisional play. Josh Bradanese cashed in 23 points (9-14 FG), six rebounds and four blocks for the Rams, who fell into an early 14-6 hole before battling back to forge a 54-47 lead with eight-and-a-half minutes to play. A 9-2 rush by the Lions – capped by a Justin Figueroa 3-ball 4:21 left - knotted the count at 56-56, but they would never be able to capture the lead in crunch time as Devaughn Mallory (12 points, 11 rebounds without taking a break) scored a basket at the 3:44 mark that initiated a 7-1 upswing and put Jefferson ahead to stay at 63-57. Still, the hosts would not go down quietly, inching within 64-62 on a Caleb Bowser lay-up with 30 ticks remaining. Deondre Bourne – who collected 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists – converted two foul shots six seconds later, and Kylan Guerra (11, 9, 6 in 40 minutes) followed suit at the 14-second juncture to slam the door, improving the Rams to 12-0 all-time in the series. Figueroa (16 points, 4-6 from 3, four assists, four steals) and Bowser (15 points) were the top options for Georgian Court, which was outworked at the line (16-23 to 7-10) – the only noteworthy statistic.
WILMINGTON 80 SCIENCES 77
Thomas Farrior stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points (10-16 FG), six rebounds, seven assists and four steals, while Danny Walsh matched that point total (9-16 FG) and Jermaine Head fell one point shy in Wilmington’s tight victory over University of the Sciences at the Complex to secure a playoff berth and dash its guests’ fleeting hopes of postseason play. The Wildcats never trailed on the evening, though there was a 31-31 tie just inside of five minutes in the first half. Ed Henderson (nine points) then banged a three to put the Cats on top for good; the lead maxing out at 59-45 just over five minutes into the second stanza. USciences responded with a 22-10 upswing, pulling within 69-67 on a Brandon Starr triple with 6:34 to go. They came even closer at 78-77 on a 3-pointer from Jordan White (14 points) with 20 seconds on the clock. Farrior was fouled two seconds later and sank both his freebies to close out the scoring as Henderson rejected Starr’s potential tying trifecta. Paddy Casey – who flirted with a triple-double (17 points, career-high nine rebounds, eight assists) – snagged the offensive rebound, but time ran out on the Devils before they could get another tying shot off. Starr’s 21-point output (including 3-5 from deep and 8-8 at the stripe) was the sum total of both teams’ bench scoring, while Brendan Crawford chalked up 14 points and 11 boards in a losing cause for the Devils. Wilmington was the more accurate shooting team (50%-41%), but Sciences stayed close thanks to more impressive foul shooting (12-12 to 2-3) and board work (42-33).
HOLY FAMILY 89 CHESTNUT HILL 73
Holy Family remains tied with Wilmington for third place, two games behind idle Goldey-Beacom for second and the home playoff berth that accompanies it, after pulling away from crosstown rival Chestnut Hill at Sorgenti Arena to halt a four-game funk. Patrick Robinson totaled 26 points (9-14 FG) and personal-best 12 rebounds, while Branden Aughburns accumulated 23 and eight, respectively (11-17 FG) for the Tigers, who were the superior shooters (49%-37%), including beyond the arc (9-23 to 5-22). In a game that saw eight ties and 11 lead changes over the first 15:40 alone, the visitors seized the reins with an 11-4 flourish over the final 3:07 of the half, transforming a 31-31 tie into a 42-35 upper hand. It was 50-44 early in the second when an Aughburns bucket sparked a 22-7 tear that put the game out of reach at 72-51 with 9:28 to play; the hosts never coming closer than 16 points the balance of the ballgame in falling for a 15th consecutive time. Vincenzo Dalessandro (six caroms) and Dymir Montague (seven assists) both dropped a dozen for Holy Family, which was outmuscled on the glass (53-40 leading to a 22-9 second-chance disparity) but more than made up for that with a 22-6 boon in mistake points. Keyon Butler (10 points, nine rebounds off the bench), Ed McWade (16, 6) and Liban Awl (12 points, six helpers) did the heavy lifting for the Griffins.
POLL POSITION
The latest NABC Top 25 Coaches’ Poll is out and Daemen still tops all regional teams, moving up two spots to #13, while St. Anselm climbs four to #20. Northwest Missouri State is still unbeaten and the unanimous #1 team. The first regional rankings will be released tomorrow afternoon and will be included in Thursday’s report.