BLOOMFIELD, NJ (January 6, 2011) - The men's basketball team improved to 7-4 overall and a perfect 4-0 in CACC play Thursday night, as they rallied from a double-digit second half deficit to outlast the Dominican College Chargers 71-65 in their second home contest of the week.  The victory moves the Deacons' home winning streak to 30 consecutive victories, currently the sixth-longest streak in Division II basketball.

The night began inauspiciously for the potent Deacons offense, as Dominican was able to slow the pace of the action and entrench the home team in a defensive battle.  The two sides combined for just 55 points through the game's first 20 minutes, the Chargers holding Bloomfield to just 25% shooting from the field.  The Deacons were able to enter the intermission ahead despite the uncharacteristic performance, nursing a slim 28-27 lead at the break.

It appeared as if one of the longest home winning streaks in the nation was on the verge of being broken as play resumed in the second half, as the Chargers orchestrated an 11-0 run to take a 38-28 lead with 16:21 to play.  But the senior tandem of Gage Daye and Ryan Rodrigues helped awaken the Deacons' sputtering offensive attack, engineering a 15-2 run midway through the period to overtake Dominican and build a 53-47 lead with just over seven minutes remaining.  The North Division's top squad would not look back, matching their visiting rivals basket-for-basket and icing the game from the free-throw line to earn the hard-fought comeback win.

"Tonight's game was a good win, but we certainly have a lot of things to correct," Bloomfield head coach Gerald Holmes said.  "We came out flat offensively, and did not come out well in the second half.  Dominican deserves credit for the way they played, but we have to do a better job of coming out of halftime ready to play.  It was great to see our guys hang tough and rally to pick up the win, so hopefully we can take that positive momentum into Saturday's game."

His 15 second-half points helping secure the victory, Daye finished the evening with a game-high 25 points to go with 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals.  Rodrigues came off the bench to notch 12 points of his own in 28 minutes of action, while Matt Wafula helped control the paint with seven points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks.  Almin Hodzic was the top scorer for Dominican, notching 18 points and 12 rebounds in a double-double effort.  Leon Porter provided the perimeter scoring for the Chargers, posting 16 points to go with five rebounds.  Dominican fell to 6-8 overall, and 2-2 in CACC play with the loss.

The Deacons return to action Saturday, January 8, when they travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to take on CACC South Division foe Chestnut Hill College.  Tip-off is scheduled for 3:00 PM.