Boxscore
CALDWELL, N.J. – Senior guard Kyle White's fade-away jumper at the foul line with 0.9 of a second showing on the clock sent the South Division No. 2 seed Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team to an incredible, 84-82 upset win over the North's No. 1 seed, Bloomfield College in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference semifinals on Fri. afternoon at the George R. Newman Center.
GBC, which avenged a 78-76 semifinal loss to the Deacons last year, advances to play in the school's first ever CACC Finals game against the No. 2 seed in the North, Felician College on Sat. at 4 p.m. The Golden Falcons upset the South No. 1, Philadelphia University, 90-77 in a thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory.
White, a First-Team All-CACC selection, was locked into a battle with the CACC player of the year, Gage Daye, all afternoon. White led his team with 30 points on 9-for-15 shooting from the field and 10-for-11 from the free-throw line, while Daye, the second-leading scorer in the nation with 26.0 ppg, scored a game-high 33 on 11-of-26 field-goal shooting and 7-of-8 from the stripe.
The Lightning also got laudable contributions from a few supporting players, namely junior guard Jon Crawford, who scored 11 points and handed out four assists, but also made several outstanding hustle plays off the bench to give his team a spark. Junior guard Sam McDuffie, an All-CACC honorable mention, added 20 points, two blocks and a steal, while Second-Team All-CACC-selected Terrence Parkes pitched in 18 points and nine rebounds.
For Bloomfield, Daye was assisted by Ryan Rodrigues (17 points, four rebounds) and Chris Sampson (11 points, seven rebounds).
Trailing 43-36 at the half, GBC shot 53-percent from the field and a sizzling 70-percent (7-for-10) from three-point range to outscore the Deacons 48-39 in the closing frame.
The two teams traded baskets for the first 10 minutes of play, with BC holding the advantage most of the way. The Deacons began to distance themselves with an 8-2 run capped by Elias Brantley's three-pointer to go up 25-18 at the 8:20 mark.
Following a jumper by Parkes to cut the lead to five, the Newman Center gym suffered a power outage that saw the lights on half of the court go out. Play resumed after about a 10-minute break in the action.
Nearing the six-minute mark, a pair of free-throws by Crawford cut the Deacons' lead to two, 27-25, but a 13-2 BC run gave the Deacons a 40-27 lead nearing the two-and-a-half minute mark. Later, Daye would extend the lead to 14 with a three-point dagger at 1:55.
Junior point guard Azeez Ellegood then led the Lightning on a 7-0 run with five consecutive points and then Crawford electrified the section of GBC fans with a steal and a powerful dunk as the Lightning went into the half with some momentum though they were down 43-36.
Still, GBC could not keep pace with Bloomfield early in the second half, as the Deacons extended their lead back to 13 (54-41) almost four minutes back into the action. But over the next five minutes, the Lightning went on a three-point shooting spree and scored 18 of the next 23 points to knot the score at 59. GBC made four three-pointers during that stretch, two of which were by White.
The Lightning forced three more ties before they finally broke through with a layup by Parkes to take their first lead of the game since a 7-6 advantage at the 7:08 mark in the first half.
Trailing 72-69, McDuffie came up with a Lightning steal and sent an outlet pass well beyond Crawford's reach. Crawford was somehow able to track it down inches before the Deacon's baseline and flick it backwards to White who finished with an easy lay-up and the harm. White's free-throw sent the game to its seventh tie of the game at 72.
Bloomfield recaptured the lead at the 6:25 mark with a layup by Sampson, and the Deacons controlled the lead for the next five minutes of play, going up by as many as five.
But at the 1:20 mark, Crawford found an open Parkes, who hit a three-point field to send the game to its eighth and final tie at 82 apiece.
Great defending by Crawford forced Daye to misfire on two consecutive attempts, and he even gathered the defensive rebound after the second miss as head coach Chuck Hammond quickly called a timeout with 27 seconds left in regulation.
White let the clock run down to about five seconds and then began his drive to the hoop. With time running out, he slammed on the breaks, one of the Bloomfield defender's feet went right out from under him, and White spotted up and took a tough fade-away jumper at the foul line and it rattled home to give GBC an 84-82 lead with just under a second left to play.
Ryan Rodrigues hoisted a three-quarters of the court long desperation three-point attempt that hit the backboard and nipped part of the front end of the rim, but did not go.
Fans, make sure to check out the CACC website for all the latest scores and information involving the men's and women's basketball tournament.
