CALDWELL, N.J. –The top team in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Tournament pull out a nail-biter against the Cougars of Caldwell University Saturday afternoon, 70-67. The victory solidified the Bears return to the CACC Tournament Finals   and a shot to win their first Championship since 2013. Nick Davidson (Lumberton, N.J.) came up huge for Bloomfield and notched a double-double with game-highs, 23 points and 10 rebounds. The Newman Center on the campus of Caldwell University was electric with tournament energy as Rakwan Kelly (Newark, N.J.) had a solid performance, netting 13 points and 9 boards.
 
The Bear Necessities
Score: #1N Bloomfield 70, #3N Caldwell 67 
Records: #1N Bloomfield (21-9) | #3N Caldwell (17-12)
Location: Newman Center / Caldwell, N.J.
 
How It Happened

• Caldwell opened up the scoring with the first two baskets but Davidson and Kelly answered with buckets that evened up the game at 4-4. The Cougars pushed ahead (11-9) with five straight points; Bloomfield responded with seven straight, including five from Davidson to pull in front 16-11.
• The North Division teams traded shots across the next six minutes as the Bears edged ahead, 23-17 with 7:20 to go in the half. Caldwell surged ahead on a 12-0 run and prompted a Bloomfield timeout for the regular season champions to regroup
• The Bears mounted a 9-3 offering to tie the game 32-32 with under a minute left to play in the 1^st half.  A three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Cougars a slight 37-34 edge as the teams went into the locker rooms
• Davidson led Bloomfield at the half with 11 points and 8 rebounds while Marcus Fleming (Linden, N.J.), Ahmid Williams (Monroe, N.J.) and Rakwan Kelly (Newark, N.J.) each had 6 points at the break
•  The 2^nd half started out rocky for the Bears as Caldwell built a 47-39 advantage in the first five minutes. Bloomfield chipped away to a 2-point deficit (53-51) with the squads heading into a media timeout
• Fleming buried two free throws that drew the teams even at 55 but the Cougars quickly responded with four points to pull back in front, 59-55. The Bears remained poised and reeled off six-straight for their first lead of the period and prompted a Caldwell timeout with 6:37 to go on the clock
• Bloomfield fed the ball down low with Robert Lewis (Jersey City, N.J.) coming up with a big bucket at the 3:40 mark that put his team up 66-63. Lewis later delivered with a basket in the paint to the Bears up 70-65 as seconds remained in the game
• Caldwell had one last chance to tie the game but a three point attempt went back iron and Bloomfield walked away with the slim victory

 
Up Next: The stage is now set as the Bears advance to the CACC Tournament Final Round tomorrow at 12:00 pm. They will await the winner of the Dominican College verses Philadelphia University match up to see who the Bears will battle at Newman Center on Sunday. Stay tuned for updates for the Championship game action.
 
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