Men's Basketball

March 1, 2008

WATERBURY, Conn.-Roahn Sheppard's lay-up with 1:14 left in the second overtime, broke the 11^th tie of the game, for Bloomfield College, as the visiting Deacons upset the Post University men's basketball team, 90-85, in the quarterfinals of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Basketball Championships, Saturday afternoon at the Drubner Center.

Bloomfield (16-15, 6-10 CACC), the number-four seed in the CACC North advances to play the number-one seed in the South Philadelphia University, which defeated University of the Sciences in another quarterfinal matchup Saturday.

The Deacons were led by Omari Knox, who had 28 points on 8-of-25 shooting. He also grabbed 12 rebounds, for the double-double. Sheppard added 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and Gage Daye chipped in with 17 points on 5-of-17 shooting.

The Eagles (14-14, 10-6 CACC) had five scorers in double figures, led by freshman guard Garvin McAlister (Norwich, Conn./N.F.A.) with a team-high 20 points. McAlister knocked down a career-high six three-pointers, while tying a career-high for points; he set on February 13 against Bloomfield. The freshman guard also dished out five assists, had three steals and a block in 46 minutes for the Eagles.

Senior forward Peter Lawal (Uniondale, N.Y./Uniondale) and senior swingman Arthur Robertson (Far Rockaway, N.Y./Beach Channel) each had 15 points. Lawal was 5-of-9 from the field, and recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 11 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass. Robertson, was 7-of-13 on the day, and notched his 11^th double-double of the season with 12 rebounds.

Junior forward AJ Reitter (Baltimore, Md./Franklin) added 14 points and 10 rebounds for Post. He also led all players with three blocks. Reitter will enter next season needing 14 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau. Junior center Jesse Iyalekhue (Bronx, N.Y./Columbus) added 10 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench. He had five offensive rebounds and a block and a steal.

With Bloomfield leading 59-42 with 9:13 left in the second half, McAlister gave the Eagles some life with a three-pointer, which sparked a 21-4 run to tie the game at 63-63 with 2:59 left in regulation. McAlister had nine points on three treys in the run for the Eagles.

But a jumper by Knox at the 1:15 mark, put the Deacons back on top, 65-63. A put-back by Iyalekhue tied the game at 65-65, and a lay-up by Robertson with 11 seconds left gave Post a 67-65 lead. Knox was fouled and made a pair of free throws to tie the game and send it into overtime.

In the first extra session, there were four ties and two lead changes, as the lead swung back and forth. Iyalekhue's lay-up with 1:56 left in the first overtime gave the Eagles a 77-73 lead, but four free throws from Gage knotted the game with 1:14 left, and neither team was able to put the ball in the basket, and the game would go into a second extra session.

It was more of the same in the second overtime, as there were three ties and one lead change. A Lawal jumper started things off for the Eagles, but an Elias Brantley bucket tied it at 79-79 with 3:56 left to go.

Post took a three-point lead after a free throw from Lawal, and a lay-up from Iyalekhue, making it 82-79 with 3:32 left. A Knox trey tied it for the 10^th time at the 2:49 mark. He would add a free throw about a minute later, but Post knotted the game for the 11^th time with a charity stripe toss from Lawal.

But on the next possession, Sheppard broke the tie with the game-winning bucket.

The Eagles shot 36.5 percent (31-85) from the field, 27.5 percent (11-40) from three-point range, and 63.2 percent (12-19) from the free throw line. Bloomfield shot 39.2 percent (29-74) from the field, 28 percent (7-25) from three-point range, and 64.1 percent (25-39) from the charity stripe.

Each team grabbed 55 rebounds, but the Eagles held a 23-19 edge on the offensive glass, resulting in 14 second chance points. Post also scored 23 points off of 23 Bloomfield turnovers.