Boxscore
CALDWELL, N.J. – The Goldey-Beacom College men's basketball team came up short against Felician College, 84-79 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament finals on Sat. afternoon at the George R. Newman Center.
A No. 2 seed out of the South Division, the Lightning (19-10, 12-6 CACC) fell behind early and could never come all the way back despite a valiant effort in the second half where they outscored the Falcons, 53-38.
Senior guard Kyle White, in his last game at Goldey-Beacom, scored 21 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. Junior guard Sam McDuffie (21 points, six rebounds, four steals) and junior forward Terrence Parkes (17 points, nine rebounds) gave inspired efforts as well.
The No. 2-seeded Falcons out of the North Division outshot GBC 52-percent to 41-percent from the field and had a distinct 47-26 rebounding advantage for the day. They were led by Devon Young (23 points, eight rebounds) and Antoine Obery (22 points, 15 rebounds).
Felician opened the game on a 14-7 run before head coach Chuck Hammond used a timeout at the 16:08 mark. The Lightning looked confused defensively as the Golden Falcons were getting to the basket with ease and making uncontested layups.
GBC struggled to keep pace as Felician took a 21-13 advantage before the media timeout at the 11:16 mark. Down 27-16, the Lightning were then assessed a technical foul which let the Falcons tack on two more and extend their lead to 29-16. Felician led 31-16 at the media timeout just under the eight-minute mark.
With White sidelined for the final 6:37 of the first half with three personal fouls, Felician seized control of the game. The Falcon offense continued to soar as they took a 46-26 lead into the intermission.
Felician finished the first half with 57-percent shooting from the field while GBC shot just 31-percent. The Falcons also dominated on the boards with a 25-10 rebounding edge and outscored the Lightning 28-10 in the paint. They also scored 10 second-chance points while GBC had none.
McDuffie led the Lightning with 10 first-half points and Parkes helped try to keep GBC in the game with two early three-point field goals. The Lightning just had no answer inside for Felician's Young (16 points) and Obery (12 points) who created matchup problems for Hammond and the Lightning the entire day.
To chants of “Let's go Goldey…” from the Lightning faithful at the Newman Center in the opening minutes of the second half, McDuffie scored his team's first five points of the half to try and cut into the Falcon lead. Later, Parkes would hit his third trey of the game to cut the lead to 50-36 as the Lightning closed the gap to 14 with a 10-4 run.
Trailing 55-40, Parkes drew a blocking foul in the act of shooting as he got a layup to go. An irate Felician head coach, David DeFerrari was whistled for a technical foul, which sent junior point guard Azeez Ellegood to the line with two shots. He made both and then Parkes made his free-throw, and suddenly the Lightning were within 10 (55-45).
Twice the Lightning pulled within eight, but both times Felician responded to regain a double-digit lead. After pulling within nine on a 1-of-2 trip at the line by McDuffie, Parkes made a layup to bring the Lightning within seven (59-52). Again he was fouled in the act of shooting, but could not convert the free-throw.
White would go to the basket two consecutive trips down the floor and convert two tough layups with Falcons draped all over him to keep GBC within striking distance, but Felician would eventually pad their lead by scoring eight of the next 12 points to go up 67-56 as the game approached the seven-minute mark.
The Falcons took a 12-point lead on two occasions, but the Lightning would not let the game get away from them. Ellegood's clutch three-pointer near the 4:30 mark again brought the Lightning within seven, and then GBC would force a shot clock violation on the ensuing Falcon possession before play stopped for the final media timeout of the game at 3:59.
Out of the media timeout, Parkes hit a huge three-pointer to bring the Lightning as close as they had been since the opening minutes of the game at 75-71. Obery made just 1-of-2 at the line on the next Falcon possession, and the Lightning trailed by just five.
With the shot clock winding down on the next Lightning possession, Parkes had to force up a desperation three-point heave that fell into the arms of McDuffie, but he could not make the layup.
The Falcons would take control of the game from that point on, and go on to win 84-79. White and Parkes were honored after the game as members of the CACC All-Tournament team. Felician's Devon Young was named the tournament's most valuable player and Antoine Obery and Suquan Gary of FC were also named to the all-tournament team.
Today's CACC Final game, the first that GBC has ever appeared in, marked the end of three outstanding seniors' careers in: forwards Troy Esquilin and Anthony Parham, and guard Kyle White. The Lightning return 12 players from this year's team next year after setting a school record for wins in a season.
