BOX SCORE

BLOOMFIELD, N.J. - Rookie guard Marvin Williams (Jersey City, N.J.) scored a career-high 25 points and drained a last-second jumper as time expired to lift Bloomfield to a dramatic playoff victory Saturday night, as the men's basketball team advanced to the CACC Tournament semifinals in thrilling fashion with a 66-64 home victory over fourth-seeded Holy Family University. 

Entering the game as the North Division's top seed, the Deacons were caught offguard by a scorching Holy Family start   in the early stages of the contest.  The Tigers came out firing in the opening minutes, engineering a 22-7 run to begin the matchup and put Bloomfield quickly on its heels.  But the Deacons would withstand the early barrage, getting their offensive attack in gear and moving to within three points at 32-29 with 1:48 remaining in the first half.  The Tigers would remain ahead heading into the intermission, though, as the visitors closed the period with a final spurt to take a 37-31 lead into the break. 

Bloomfield would continue to elevate their performance at the offensive end of the floor as play resumed, quickly erasing the deficit and gaining their first lead of the night at 39-38 with just over 17 minutes remaining.  The Deacons would increase the advantage to as many as ten points, but Holy Family would remain within striking distance, fending off the potent Bloomfield attack and clawing their way back into the game to finally knot the score at 64 in the game's final minute.  

Seeing their lead evaporate, the Deacons held the ball for what would appear to be the final possession of regulation.  After the Tigers swatted away a Bloomfield attempt with seven seconds to go,  senior point guard Ahmad Harris (Linden, N.J.) found fellow senior Matt Wafula (Harlem, N.Y.) underneath the basket on the ensuing inbounds play, but Wafula could not convert inside, handing the ball back to Holy Family with a chance to end the game. 

The Tigers would swing the tide back in Bloomfield's favor on the very nexy play, however, turning the ball over on the inbounds play to give the Deacons a final chance with 1.6 ticks remaining.  Inbounding from the sideline of their own end of the floor, Harris fired an overhand pass in the direction of Williams, who caught the pass just inside the three-point line in between two Holy Family defenders.  

Needing to make a quick move to get his shot away, the rookie weaved his way between the oncoming Tigers to fire up his 19th shot of the night, capping the most brilliant performance of his Bloomfield career by draining the long-range jumper as the horn sounded.  The club stormed the court to mob the freshman sharpshooter, the Deacons now moving on to the CACC Tournament semifinals to be held at Caldwell College Friday, March 2. 

Williams finished the night 10-19 from the floor, adding five rebounds and one steal to his heroic evening.  Harris finished just shy of a triple-double on the night, totaling eight points, 11 rebounds, and six assists, while sophomore forward Mike Williams (Trenton, N.J.) tallied 10 points off the bench to round out the double-figure scorers.