CALDWELL, N.J. – The start of Felician University's Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference men's basketball semifinal matchup with Post University was delayed more than 45 minutes on Saturday afternoon due to the previous game being decided in overtime. But when the tip finally arrived, the Golden Falcons were ready.

Felician, the No. 3 seed from the CACC North Division, scored the game's first eight points, was up, 25-9, after 10-plus minutes, and turned in its best defensive outing of the season en route to a 75-59 victory over North No. 1 seed Post University on Caldwell University's Corino Court. Junior swingman Justin Davis (Jersey City, N.J./Hoboken) led the Golden Falcons (18-9) with 32 points and eight rebounds.

Felician advances to the finals of the 2022 CACC Championship tournament, where it will face North No. 2 seed Dominican (N.Y.) College on Sunday at noon on the Caldwell campus. Dominican was an 87-84 overtime winner over Thomas Jefferson University in the aforementioned first game of the day.

"Seeing that big lead early made me realize we were rolling," Davis said. "We did a very good job executing our game plan."

Davis scored 13 of Felician's initial 25 points. But after Ebuka Nnagbo's (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Park School of Buffalo) layup with nine minutes, 44 seconds, remaining in the first half, the Golden Falcons were stuck on that number for a stretch of nearly seven minutes. However, due to a strong Felician defensive effort, the Eagles only came as close as an eight-point deficit. Felician then tallied the period's final five points for a 32-17 halftime lead.

A successful Davis jump shot early in the second half handed Felician its largest lead of the day. Still ahead by 14 with 10:00 remaining, the Golden Falcons saw that lead sliced in half, 64-57, at the 2:52 mark. But Felician put the ball in the steady hands of junior guard Jaylen Colon (Paterson, N.J./John F. Kennedy), who was 6 for 6 at the foul line over his team's next three possessions. A putback dunk by Davis with 1:07 to play punctuated the victory, providing the final margin.

"We got the stops we needed to slow them down," Davis said. "By far it was our best defensive effort of the season."

Colon finished with 16 points and Etnik Peci (Pristina, Kosovo/Renaissance Academy [Calif.]) scored 11 for Felician. Fellow Golden Falcon junior Dee-End McRae (Newark, N.J./Newark Central) tallied nine points, eight rebounds and six assist. CACC Player of the Year Devonte McCall (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) led the Eagles (20-9) with 25 points and seven rebounds.

Felician owned a 36-27 rebounding advantage and outscored Post, 15-4, at the foul line.

The Golden Falcons reach the CACC finals for the third time in their 23 years as a league member; they won their only conference championship in 2010.

More information about the 2022 CACC Men's Basketball Championship tournament can be found at https://www.caccathletics.org/sports/mbkb/2021-22/releases/226Tourn.