Hot Shooting Leads #7 Bloomfield to 91-78 Upset Over #2 Seed & Defending East Region Champ STAC in NCAA 1st Rd

Hot Shooting Leads #7 Bloomfield to 91-78 Upset Over #2 Seed & Defending East Region Champ STAC in NCAA 1st Rd

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (March 10, 2018) -- Keith Washington poured in a game-high 23 points to lead four Bears in double-figures, as seventh-seeded Bloomfield College knocked off No. 2 seed and defending East Region champ St. Thomas Aquinas, 91-78, on Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Men's Basketball East Region First Round on the Le Moyne College campus.

Washington was 8-of-14 from the field, including a sizzling 5-of-7 clip from beyond the arc. He erupted for 15 of his game-high total in the second half, as Bloomfield turned a 10-point advantage at the break into as many as 20 in the final stanza. Nick Davidson pumped in 17 points to aid in the offensive attack for the Bears, while Ignacio Diez added 17 off the pine. Safee Abdus-Sabur chipped in 11 as well.

Bloomfield, as a team, shot 58 percent from the field (33-of-57), while going an outstanding 12-of-21 from downtown.

Shaquille McFarlan led the Spartans with 21 points, while Justin Reyes (18), James Mitchell (17) and Jamar Sudan (10) were STAC's other double-digit scorers.

Bloomfield used a 12-0 run early in the contest to turn a brief 5-2 deficit into a nine-point lead (14-5). Washington and Abdus-Sabur highlighted the surge with a three-ball each. Diez turned in a three-point play minutes later and Bloomfield opened up its first double-digit lead of the game at 17-7 with 13:01 left in the half. The Bears led by as many as 16 on numerous occasions in the first half and eventually took a 46-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Bloomfield pushed its lead out to 20 at 75-55 with 7:54 left on a layup from Kavione Green. STAC, though, tried to rally and trim the deficit to eight late, but a couple layups, dunks and clutch free throws sealed the win for the Bears.

The Bears will now face sixth-seeded Merrimack College in the East Region semis on Sunday night at 5 p.m. on the Le Moyne campus. The Warriors pulled off an upset of their own on Saturday by defeating third-seeded Bridgeport 85-70. Sunday's winner will advance to the NCAA Division II East Region Final on Tuesday night.


ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University), Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.