CALDWELL, NJ – The Bloomfield College men's basketball team punched their ticket to postseason play Saturday afternoon with a 91-74 victory over Caldwell University. The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) regular season finale win secured the 3rd seed in the north division and improved the Bears overall record to 15-13. The Cougars dropped to 12-15 on the year and 8-11 in league matches as they concluded their 2019-20 campaign.
The opening half was a regular see-saw battle between the teams on Mark A. Corino Court. Junior transfer, Darin Bellinger (Stroudsburg, PA) got the game underway with a shot from long-range and Caldwell came right back on their next possession with a three-pointer and the game was underway. Bellinger was red-hot and led all scorers at the half with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field which included 4-of-6 from deep. Senior, Matt Lajeunesse (Union, NJ) had a solid first half, netting 8 points and 4 rebounds as Bloomfield took a slim 41-39 advantage into the intermission.
Head Coach Gerald Holmes inspired the Bears in the locker room and they came out inspired in the second half, reeling off a 24-0 run to seize control of the game and take charge of their playoff destiny. Senior guard, Safee Abdus-Sabur (Newark, NJ) was unstoppable in the final half, scoring all twenty-one of his points in the 2nd period and willing his team to victory.
Bellinger finished the day with a career high, 24 points while Lajeunesse added 17 points and 9 rebounds for Bloomfield. Freshman, Isaiah Sparks (Ewing, NJ) recorded a career and team-high 10 rebounds while classmate, Abdallah Elsaleh (North Bergen, NJ) chipped in 8 points.
Bloomfield (11-8) is now set to return to the CACC Playoffs and hit the road for the opening round against the #2 seed in the south division, Goldey-Beacom College. The Bears are away from their home floor to start postseason play for the first time in five years and will battle the Lightning at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, March 3rd in Delaware. Full CACC Tournament information will be provided including brackets, live stats and streaming options as well as updates and ticket prices.
If you missed the excitement of Saturday's game LIVE you can watch it NOW on Demand by clicking HERE.
Don't miss another game! Fans can watch Bloomfield College sports on their TVs through various streaming devices, including Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. To download the app through those various streaming devices, go to new channel search and type in "CACC Network."
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