BOX SCORE
Philadelphia, Pa. - The Holy Family University men's basketball saw its season come to an end after falling short to Bloomfield College, 70-62, in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Semifinals hosted by the University of the Sciences Friday night at the Bobby Morgan Arena.
Holy Family, seeded number one from the South Division, concludes its season at 18-10. The Tigers won the CACC South Division Title after finishing conference play with a 13-4 mark, the most victories since the 2007-08 season (12-4).
Bloomfield, the number two seed from the North Division is now 16-12 and will face Philadelphia University in the CACC Championship Final Saturday night (7 p.m.).
Junior
Ervin Ezell (Deptford, N.J./Deptford High) highlighted the night as he scored a game-high 23 points after shooting 8-of-13 from the field. He also dished out three assists and recorded two steals on the defensive end. Ezell finishes the season with 83 steals, which is currently the most in the CACC.
Freshman Tuhran Griffin also finished in double-figures as he scored a career-high 16 points. Junior
Alberto Munoz (Morrisville, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) contributed 12 points, while freshman
Isaiah Gans (Philadelphia, Pa./Redemption Christian Academy) added six points and seven rebounds.
For Bloomfield, sophomore Matt Hall came off the bench and led the team with 12 points. Junior Dondre Whitmore and freshman Erik Sanders each scored 11 points. Junior Kevin Udo finished the game with 11 rebounds and two points shy of a double-double with eight points.
Bloomfield jumped out to a 6-0 lead after its first three possessions thanks to back-to-back three-pointers by Whitmore. However, Holy Family answered right back with a 10-0 run capped by a Gans dunk to make the score 10-6 at the 16:45 mark.
From there, both teams battled back and forth with neither squad taking more than a two-possession advantage until late in the half.
Holy Family led 24-23 at the 8:15 mark of the half but a 12-2 run by Bloomfield gave the Deacons their biggest lead of the game. A three-pointer by freshman Clarence White made the score 35-26 with two minutes remaining until halftime. Bloomfield would go on to take a 39-34 into the locker rooms at halftime.
In the second half, Holy Family regained the lead after a three-pointer by Munoz gave the Tigers a 43-41 lead at the 14:58 mark.
Two minutes later, the Tigers would go on to increase their lead to as high as five points after another three-pointer by Munoz, making the score 49-44.
The Tigers maintained their lead, but the Deacons struck back with back-to-back three-pointers to take possession of the lead. A three-pointer by Sanders gave Bloomfield a 55-53 lead with 6:58 to play.
Holy Family tied the game on two separate occasions as the half progressed with the later coming with 3:18 to play. A jumper by Gans evened the score at 59-59.
However, Bloomfield used a 7-0 run over the next 2:45 to pull away from the Tigers. Whitmore split a pair of free throws to make the score 66-59 with :33 seconds left on the clock.
Holy Family cut the lead to four points (66-62) after Griffin drained a three-pointer with :23 seconds left, but Bloomfield held off the Tigers converting 4-of-4 from the free throw line in the remaining seconds to secure the victory.
- HFU -
