Philadelphia University claimed its second straight Central Atlantic Collegiate
Conference (CACC) Men's Basketball Tournament championship with a hard-fought
63-56 victory over Bloomfield College tonight at Philadelphia's Gallagher
Center. By virtue of the win, the Rams have earned the CACC's automatic berth
into the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament. The field and host for the event
will be announced Sunday evening. Tournament Most Valuable Player
Russell Frederick (6'1''-G-88) tallied 14 points, six assists, two blocks
and two steals to lead the Rams.
Philadelphia's defense stifled Bloomfield all night long, holding the
high-scoring Deacons to 30.0-percent (21-for-70) shooting for the game,
including 16.7-percent (3-for-18) from long range. Meanwhile, Philadelphia, the
top seed from the South Division, connected on 48.7-percent (19-for-39) of its
shots and 42.9-percent (6-for-14) from beyond the arc.
The contest was tight early on until Philadelphia created a cushion by going on
a 9-2 run over a span of 1:34 to push a 13-12 edge into a 22-14 lead with 10:47
left in the half. Bloomfield, the North's top seed, pulled to within four
(26-22) with 7:11 left on a triple by freshman guard
Ahmad
Harris (5'9''-G), but Philadelphia's
Malcolm Ingram (6'4''-F-87) tallied four straight points to make the lead
eight again. Philadelphia led by as many as 11, with 2:48 on the clock, and went
into the locker rooms up by a score of 39-29.
Philadelphia kept the pressure on in the second half and held BC to 28.2-percent
(11-for-39) shooting during the final 20 minutes. Bloomfield took as many shots
in the second half as Philadelphia took in the entire game with 39. In another
strange statistic, Philadelphia turned the ball over 20 times, while Bloomfield
coughed it up only 10 times.
The Rams maintained a lead of nearly double digits for most of the second stanza
until Bloomfield went on a late run, pulling to within four (58-54) with 1:46
remaining. Bloomfield was aided by poor free-throw shooting from Philadelphia
down the stretch, as the Rams made only 5-for-9 during the final minute of play.
However, the Deacons couldn't take advantage and missed all seven of their
field-goal attempts in the final 1:02. BC scored only three points in the final
4:29 of the contest.
Junior center
Mike
Yocum (6'8''-F-87, college:
Albany)
and classmate
Malcolm Ingram led Philadelphia with 16 points each, while Yocum tied for
game-high honors with 13 boards. Junior guard Marcus Lemon chipped in nine
points and eight rebounds, while senior guard
Mike
Dunn (6'5''-G-87) added seven points.
Philadelphia held the CACC's leading scorer, Bloomfield senior guard
Omari
Knox (6'2''-G), scorless on 0-for-10 shooting. He did grab 13 rebounds.
Sophomore guard
Gage
Daye (6'2''-F) tallied a game-high 25 points, while
Wilson Pilarte (6'4''-F) added 13 points and two steals.
Philadelphia enters the NCAA Regional with a record of 25-5, while Bloomfield
falls to 23-7.
Courtesy of CACC
Tournament Final: Philadelphia - Bloomfield 63-56 Tournament Semifinals:
Bloomfield - Goldey-Beacom 79-76
Philadelphia - Felician 59-52
Magee
Philadelphia University claimed its second straight Central Atlantic Collegiate
Conference (CACC) Men's Basketball Tournament championship with a hard-fought
63-56 victory over Bloomfield College tonight at Philadelphia's Gallagher
Center. By virtue of the win, the Rams have earned the CACC's automatic berth
into the NCAA Division II Regional Tournament. The field and host for the event
will be announced Sunday evening. Tournament Most Valuable Player
