BLOOMFIELD, N.J. - Senior Claude Blue (Brooklyn, N.Y.) notched his third double-double of the season as he powered Bloomfield College to a 83-77 victory over Nyack College Tuesday evening at home. The Bears crushed the Warriors hopes of a post-season appearance in the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament with the win on senior night. Bloomfield played their final regular season game as they honored Blue and classmate, Olatilewa Oyawusi (Bloomfield, N.J.) before the game.

The victory eliminated Nyack from the playoffs with their season ending at 11-15 overall and 8-11 in league play.  The Bears' improved to 14-12 in the regular season finale and 13-6 in CACC matchups as they tune up for the Quarterfinal round of the tournament. Bloomfield, the #1 seed in the North will host the South's #4 seed, Chestnut Hill on Saturday at 4:30 pm. The Bears bested the Griffins back on January 22 by a score of 82-80 during the teams' only meeting this season. 

Blue went 11-for-15 from the field for 26 points, including 1-for-2 from downtown, and 3-for-3 at the line, while grabbing ten rebounds, four blocks an assist and a steal. Sophomore Nick Davidson (Lumberton, N.J.) came off the bench on Senior Night and tallied 13 points (4-11 FG, 1-2 3FG, 8-10 FT) to go along with seven rebounds. Sophomore Safee Abdus-Sabur (Newark, N.J.) notched 12 points (4-12 FG, 1-3 3FG, 3-4 FT), six boards, an assist and a steal while classmate Juan Brown (Annapolis, M.D.) recorded 10 points (2-7 FG, 1-4 3FG, 5-6 FT), four assists, two boards and a steal.
 
Jaron Smith scored a game-high, 28 points for Nyack, while Ga'Briel Chandler added 16 off the bench.
 
Oyawusi scored the games first points on two free throws after being chosen by the Nyack head coach when Ignacio Diez (Madrid, Spain) was injured on the Bears initial possession of the night. Brown buried a shot from beyond the arc on the home team's next trip down the court and the battle was on with each squad trading buckets to a 19-19 tie almost eight minutes in. The Warriors pushed ahead 30-25 five minutes later but Bloomfield responded with a 10-0 counter that carved out their own five-point advantage. The top team in the North Division extended their lead to 47-39 as they headed into the locker room for the halftime break.
 
Blue scored 11 points in the first half for the Bears but Smith notched 16 at the break and had his team hungry for an upset that would propel them into postseason play.
 
Bloomfield began the second half with a three-point basket from Abdus-Sabur that nudged the lead to eleven and sparked an 8-2 run from the home team capped by another bucket from the Newark native. Smith stepped up for the Warriors once again and netted a jumper to cut his teams' deficit to 60-52, with 12:50 to go.
 
The Bears again stood up to the challenge as a Blue layup forced the lead back up to double-digits (67-56) midway thru the frame. Less than a minute later a 7-0 wave, which included a Smith trifecta, pulled postseason hopefuls to within 67-63. Each time the Warriors battled closer, Bloomfield responded with just enough to keep them at bay and never relinquished the lead in the second half.
 
The margin was three with 1:34 on the clock and Davidson scored a bucket in the paint to extend the edge to 76-71. With the lead still five and 35 seconds to go, Nyack was forced to foul to keep their playoff hopes alive but the Bears young squad were seasoned vets as it pertained to close games and sealed the victory from the free throw line.
 
Blue poured in 15 points in the second half and went a perfect 3-for-3 from the line.
 
Nyack outshot Bloomfield, 48.4 percent (30-62) to 45.8 percent (27-59), but the Bears had the edge, 30.8 percent (4-13) to 28.0 percent (7-25) from long range. Bloomfield cleaned up at the free throw line, going 25-for-31 (80.6%) compared to 10 of 16 (62.5%) for the Warriors. The Bears held advantages in the paint (42-34) and on the glass (37-33), while dominating in bench production (37-16). Bloomfield forced 17 Nyack mistakes and converted them into 20 points.
 
The top-seeded (N) Bears return to action Saturday, Feb. 27 at 4:30 p.m. when they host fourth-seeded (S) Chestnut Hill in the 2016 CACC Championship Quarterfinal matchup at the Bloomfield College Gym. Admission for the tournament will be: $6 adults, $3 students with ID, seniors and children. Children under 3 will be admitted for free.

Playoff seedings:

North Division

Team (Conf. Record)

1. Bloomfield (13-6)

2. Post (10-9)

3. Concordia (10-9)

4. Dominican (9-10)
 

South Division

1. Holy Family (17-2)*

2. Philadelphia (14-5)

3. USciences (12-7)

4. Chestnut Hill (10-9)

*-Holy Family is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament
 

The tournament schedule:

Quarterfinals (Saturday, Feb. 27)

#4S Chestnut Hill at #1N Bloomfield (4:30 p.m.)

#3N Concordia at #2S Philadelphia (4:30 p.m.)

#4N Dominican at #1S Holy Family (4:30 p.m.)

#3S USciences at #2N Post (2 p.m.)

Semifinals (Friday, March 4)

Bloom/CHC Winner vs. PhilaU/Conc Winner (5 or 7 p.m.)

HFU/DC Winner vs. Post/USci Winner (5 or 7 p.m.)

*The highest remaining seed will play the first semifinal game on Friday

Championship Final (Saturday, March 5)

Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner (7 p.m.)
 

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