CALDWELL, NJ (March 5, 2010)- Felician College and Goldey-Beacom College are set to square off for the 2009-10 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Basketball Tournament Championship after thrilling victories in today's semi-final round. Felician won in overtime and GBC was victorious thanks to a bucket in the final seconds. The championship will tip at 4:00 pm Saturday at Caldwell College. The winner will earn the CACC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament.

The championship game can be viewed for free on CACC.tv. Live stats will  be available on www.caccathletics.org .

Felician (23-6), the No. 2 seed in the North Division, shocked the two-time defending CACC champion and #1 South Division Philadelphia University Rams (25-7) 90-77 in overtime.  Felician set a regional record for the largest deficit overcome to earn a play-off victory. Philadelphia dominated in the first half, as a 27-6 run was the catalyst behind a comfortable 45-26 lead at halftime. Sophomore forward Corey Francisco keyed the big run with 10 points.

The momentum changed in the second half as Felician cut a 23-point deficit to just six (65-59) at the 7:00 mark on a trey by sophomore guard Antoine Obery.  Obery had a career-best 32 points and pulled down 14 rebounds for the Golden Falcons. Junior guard/forward Devon Young poured in a school-record 39 points, shooting 10-for-18 from the field and 14-for-20 from the charity stripe. The 39 points are the second-most ever scored in a CACC Tournament game in the Division II era. Together, Young and Obery combined for 71 of their team's 90 points. Both players are second team All-CACC selections.

Young hit a triple with nine seconds remaining to tie it, 76-76, and Obery came up with a huge defensive play to force overtime. With time winding down, Ram freshman guard Jim Connolly drove to the hoop for the winning bucket, but his lay-up attempt was swatted into the crowd by Obery. He finished with a career-high six blocks, which ties a CACC Tournament record. 

PhilaU scored just one point in the extra session, as the Golden Falcons out-scored the Rams 14-1 in overtime, including a 10-for-14 performance from the free-throw line.    

The Rams were hurt by a 26-percent (8-for-31) shooting effort from long range. PhilaU was led by senior guard Russell Frederick's 21 points and seven assists.  Connolly added 13 points and six boards.

It was another exciting match-up in the second game of the day, as Goldey-Beacom (19-9) came from behind to earn a spot in its first-ever CACC championship game. Senior guard Kyle White's fade-away jumper at the foul-line with under a second showing on the clock sent the South Division No. 2 seed Lightning to an 84-82 upset over the North's No. 1 seed, Bloomfield College. GBC avenged a 78-76 semi-final loss to the Deacons last year.

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.

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.

Bloomfield (21-8) came out strong and extended their lead to 13 (54-41) almost four minutes 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, including a pair by White.

The game remained close the rest of the way, and at the 1:20 mark, junior forward Terrence Parkes hit a clutch three-pointer for the Lightning to send the game to its eighth and final tie at 82 apiece.

Daye tried to give his Deacons the lead but he missed two consecutive field goals, giving GBC the ball. 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, and spotted up for a tough fade-away jumper at the foul line that rattled home to give GBC an 84-82 lead with just under a second left to play.

That was not the end of the drama. BC junior guard Ryan Rodrigues hoisted a shot from beyond half court at the buzzer that hit the backboard and nicked the front of the rim, before bouncing to the floor, giving GBC the thrilling victory.

CACC Tournament Quarter-finals
Monday, March 1
S#1 Philadelphia 74, S#4 Chestnut Hill 64
S#2 Goldey-Beacom 79, S#3 Wilmington 71
N#1 Bloomfield 80, N#4 Post 75
N#2 Felician 69, N#3 Dominican 58

Semi-finals
Friday, March 5 at Caldwell College
Felician 90, Philadelphia 77 (OT)
Goldey-Beacom 84, Bloomfield 82

Championship
Saturday, March 6 at Caldwell College
Felician vs. Goldey-Beacom -4:00 pm