RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Felician University men's basketball team, the No. 3 seed from the North Division, has reached the semifinals of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship tournament. Standing between Felician and the championship game is the North's top seed, Post University.
Felician (17-9) is playing in the semifinals for the first time since winning its only CACC title in 2010. The Golden Falcons will face Post on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the George R. Newman Center on the campus of Caldwell University in Caldwell, N.J. Caldwell is hosting the event's semifinals and finals.
Directions to Caldwell University are available at https://www.caldwell.edu/about/directions/. Ticket prices for Saturday's game are $10 for adults and $5 for children, students (with ID) and senior citizens. Children aged three years and under will be admitted free. Caldwell will provide a free online statistics feed at http://www.caccathletics.org/sports/mbkb/2021-22/boxscores/20220305_fyug.xml. A live webstream through the CACC Network in partnership with BlueFrame Technology will be offered at https://caccnetwork.com/?bfplayvid=368759.
Felician advanced with a 93-90 quarterfinal victory over South No. 2 seed Chestnut Hill College on Tuesday in Philadelphia, Pa. Juniors Jaylen Colon (Paterson, N.J./John F. Kennedy) and Etnik Peci (Pristina, Kosovo/Renaissance Academy [Calif.]) scored 26 points each. Post (20-8) received 24 points and 12 rebounds from CACC Player of the Year Devonte McCall (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) during a 100-89 home first-round win over Wilmington (Del.) University.
"I know exactly where we're at and what it means to the program and what it means to the institution for us to get to this point," said seventh-year Golden Falcon head coach Ivan Lewis, a 2004 graduate of Felician. "There's a lot of pride that comes with being in this position and being a part of rebuilding the program. But we also have veteran guys who kept their composure and didn't get rattled when we were down by 11 points on Tuesday, and they deserve a lot of credit."
Felician is sparked by First-Team All-CACC selection Justin Davis (Jersey City, N.J./Hoboken) and Colon, a Second-Team all-league choice. Davis averages 20.4 points (second in the CACC) and 8.0 rebounds and Colon scores 16.3 points per game. Junior Dee-End McRae (Newark, N.J./Newark Central) and sophomore Nas Amos (Newark, N.J./Newark East Side) are also double-figure scorers.
Backed by McCall, who won both league Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors, Post clamed the CACC North regular-season championship. Fifth-year head coach Marc Kuntz was voted the CACC Coach of the Year, and junior David Jasson (Chicago, Ill./Wilbur Wright JC) was a Second-Team All-CACC honoree.
Post won both regular-season meetings between the schools. The Eagles lead the all-time series, 30-23. Felician is 2-2 vs. Post in postseason play (1-2 CACC, 1-0 ECAC) but has not played the Eagles in a playoff game since 2009.
"Marc's done a great job this year and in rebuilding that program," Lewis said. "Post is very talented and is a veteran group and we have a lot of respect for them. On our end there are a lot of things we can look at and possibly tinker with to get a different result the third time. We'll be ready to go."
Should the Golden Falcons win on Saturday, they would advance to the championship game on Sunday at noon at the Newman Center and would play the winner of the other semifinal between South No. 1 seed Thomas Jefferson University and North No. 2 seed Dominican (N.Y.) College.
More information about the 2022 CACC Men's Basketball Championship is available at https://www.caccathletics.org/sports/Championship/21-22/MBB.
The winner of the CACC Championship tournament automatically qualifies for the 2022 NCAA Division II East Regional Championship, to be held on the campus of a regional participant.
Felician University inspires and engages more than 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult education students through programs in its schools of Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. In the past three years, Felician has ranked third in New Jersey in "Best Return on Investment for Private Colleges" in the PayScale.com College ROI Report and as the "Safest College Campus in New Jersey" by niche.com. With campuses in Rutherford and Lodi, New Jersey, the Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow's leaders. Felician also sponsors 14 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level. To learn more about Felician University please visit www.felician.edu.
