BLOOMFIELD, N.J. –  Senior forward Edward Ngene and freshman guard Ethan Maynard combined for 54 of Bloomfield College's 87 points on Tuesday night as Post University Men's Basketball was unable to find a way to stop the duo despite four scorers in double figures, including 21 points from senior guard Bol Akot, dropping the North Division matchup to the Bears, 87-75, on the road.

In what has been a highly competitive North Division so far this season, Post's 5-4 record in the conference has them in a three-way tie at 5-4 with Felician University and the University of Bridgeport after Wednesday night's action and tied with Caldwell University in the loss column as the Cougars sit at 4-4 following their loss to Dominican (N.Y.). While the Eagles hold the tiebreakers for the time being against the Purple Knights and Golden Falcons to catapult into a tournament spot, all four teams are closely aligned at the midway point of the conference slate with just over a month to go in the regular season. 

THE BASICS

Post University 75, Bloomfield College 87

Post University (11-10, 5-4 CACC)
 
Bloomfield College (13-6, 6-3 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Ngene and Maynard combined for a total of 28 points on 12-for-15 shooting in the first half for Bloomfield, who led 44-40 at the break. Maynard led the way with 15 points while hitting 3-of-4 threes followed by Ngene's 13 points in which he made 6-of-7 shots from inside the arc. But it would be a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes with two ties and two lead changes that led to that four-point Bears' lead heading into halftime.

After leading 3-2 at the start on a three from sophomore guard Ta'Quan Williams, the Eagles would find themselves playing from behind for a majority of the half, trailing by as many as six points on a couple of occasions until the 8:07 mark, down 28-22, when Akot's jumper started Post's run. Scoring 13 of the next 15 points, which included scoring from five different players and five points from junior guard Tre Duncan, it was the Eagles who found themselves in front by a half-high five points, 35-30. 

In response, junior forward Marcus Bucknall scored four points and Maynard dropped in a triple, ultimately evening the score up at 37 all with 2:28 remaining in the first half. From there, the Maynard-Ngene duo closed out the half for Bloomfield to give them their half-high lead of seven points before Akot's buzzer-beating three made it a four-point game. 

Akot led the Eagles at the half with 11 points, shooting 5-for-9 and hitting that lone three he took as eight different players scored for Post during a 16-for-38 (42.1%) shooting half which was equalized by an 18-for-30 (60%) session by the Bears with 5-of-11 (45.5%) threes made. 

However, the deficit would never creep below four points the rest of the evening following Williams' basket with 18:57 to go in regulation as Ngene and Maynard continued to torch the Eagles' defense. Another near-perfect shooting half saw Ngene lead all scorers with 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting, finishing the night with 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting, while Maynard had 11 more of his own on 5-of-8 shooting to end the game with 26 points on 11-for-16 shooting and making 4-of-7 threes.

Dominating on points in the paint, the Bears finished the game with 46 compared to just 32 for the Eagles who limited their turnovers to nine in the game while forcing Bloomfield to commit 13. The Bears led by as many as 16 points with 4:21 left in the second half before a brief 8-0 stretch by Akot and Williams got Post within eight points, 81-73, with 2:42 remaining at which point Ngene and Bloomfield were able to shut the door on the comeback bid in the 12-point win, 87-75. 

BY THE NUMBERS  

• Bol Akot recorded his twelfth straight game finishing with 10-plus points after scoring 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting -- Akot now has 19 games this season in which he has reached double-digit points and two straight games with 20 or more points 
• Edward Ngene and Ethan Maynard combined for 53 of the 87 points for Bloomfield College -- No other Bears player finished with 10-plus points as Izaiah Poole and Zamorian Singleton both had nine points in the game 
• Post University drops to 1-9 on the season when trailing at halftime while remaining 9-1 this season when leading at halftime -- The Eagles are 1-0 when tied at halftime which was their overtime win against AIC on December 18th, 2024 
• Since winning four straight games against Bloomfield College, Post University has lost four of its last five matchups to the Bears including each of the last three on the road 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University faces off against Wilmington University on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM in a rematch of last year's CACC Quarterfinals in which the Eagles came out on top on a last-second basket by Bol Akot, 79-77, to advance to the CACC Semifinals. Post has won their last five matchups with the Wildcats since the beginning of the 2021-22 season with the last two contests being decided by two points.