CALDWELL, NJ – The Bears men's basketball team took on the #1 team in the South Division, Thomas Jefferson University for the highly coveted Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship on Sunday and fell, 89-69 at the George R Newman Center on the Campus of Caldwell University. The setback moved Bloomfield's record to 22-9 while the Rams improved to 23-8 and captured the CACC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Deavion Ellis got the scoring underway with a three-pointer, followed by a bucket in the lane and the Bears were off to a 5-0 lead. Jefferson quickly erased that deficit with a 7-2 spurt and the battle on Mark Corino Court was in full swing. The teams traded baskets through the midpoint of the first and Bloomfield trailed 22-20 after another Ellis bucket at the 9:29 minute mark. Jefferson extended to a 14-point advantage, 48-34 with a minute to play in the half on an Erik Timko dunk prompting a Gerald Holmes timeout. The top seed in the North would go into the locker rooms down, 50-36 at the break.
Ellis finished the half with 7 points on 3-for-6 shooting while Izaiah Poole led the team with 10, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor which included 2-of-2 from deep. Timko had 11 points at the break for Jefferson and Hakim Byrd had a game-high, 16 on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. Jefferson held a 15-10 edge in rebounds and a 10-3 margin in assists.
The 2nd half began just as the 1st with three points from Ellis, this time the conventional way but Timko quickly answered from long-range and the match was back on. Bloomfield began the work to chip away at the Rams lead, cutting it to 55-45 with 16 minutes on the clock. The top team from the south scored the next four after a timeout and kept the Bears at a, 10-14-point range across the next six minutes. Timko drained a three-pointer that put the North Division champs down, 71-54 as the Bloomfield comeback hopes started to fade. Jefferson's largest lead was, 77-57 at the 6:20 mark before going on to claim the CACC Championship.
Poole finished the day with 21 points on 7-for-10 shooting and earned a spot on the All-CACC Tournament Team. Ellis ended with 10 points to round out the top scorers and the CACC Defensive Player of the Year, Edward Ngene swatted three shots and was also named to the All-CACC Tournament Team. The CACC Player of the Year, Timko finished his day with 21 points and was named to the All-CACC Tournament Team while his teammate, Byrd led all scorers with 23 points and was named the Tournament MVP.
The Bears now look to the NCAA Tournament Selection Show tonight to see if their season extends with an at-large bid after being ranked 6th in the last East Region Poll. The Selection Show will air tonight at 11:00 pm on NCAA.com (.)
If you missed the excitement of today's match-up or you'd like to see it again, you can click this link to watch it ON DEMAND.
Join the #BearsNation and stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, from the Bloomfield College of Montclair State University athletic department by liking the Bears on Facebook and following us on Twitter or Instagram @Montclair_BCBears. Use the hashtag #BearsNation to join the conversation.
