WATERBURY, Conn. –  Senior guard Rob Sanders was one of five scorers in double digits for Post University Men's Basketball in Sunday afternoon's make-up game against Caldwell University, dropping 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting to help the Eagles inch closer to a spot in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament in a little over two weeks from now with an 88-57 win at home. 

As it stands, Post resides in the third spot of the CACC North at 8-6 in conference play, with the Cougars behind them at 7-6 with a game in hand in the fourth and final spot. In fifth and sixth are Felician University at 7-7 and Bloomfield College at 6-8, while the Eagles will face the Bears and the University of Bridgeport to end the year, meaning anything can still happen, from hosting a tournament game to missing the tournament completely. 

THE BASICS

Post University 88, Caldwell University 57

Post University (14-12, 8-6 CACC)
 
Caldwell University (15-9, 7-6 CACC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Senior forward Deng Deang led Post with 23 points on 6-for-12 shooting in the affair, having only six points at the halftime break on 1-for-5 shooting while the Eagles led 35-34 after 20 minutes. Similar to the first matchup this year, neither team had a particularly strong shooting half, with Post going just 12-for-31 (38.7%) from the field with 4-of-15 (26.7%) threes made and a 7-for-8 free-throw performance. 

Junior guard Melvin Evans led Caldwell with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting in just under 16 minutes played during the first half, while his team got contributions from seven different scorers in a 12-for-27 (44.4%) shooting effort with an identical 7-for-8 showing from the line by 3-for-8 (37.5%) threes made. The largest lead of the game came from the Cougars in the first half when a free throw from Evans made it a nine-point lead, 18-9, with 14:11 left.

Essentially, the rest of the game would be owned by the Eagles, who embarked on an 11-0 run starting with a three from graduate guard Tyler Small and followed up with four straight points each from graduate forward Harrison Warnock and sophomore guard Ta'Quan Williams, giving Post their first lead of the game, 20-18. 

After junior forward DeAngelo Horn tied the game at 20 with 9:29 left, a three from Sanders gave Post the lead for good in the first half despite the Cougars hanging within one point at halftime. Kicking off the second half, a layup from Evans gave Caldwell what would be their last lead of the game before a 12-2 run flipped the game in favor of the Eagles by nine points and only grew from there. 

Junior guard Caleb Sampson's layup with 43 seconds left brought the lead to a game-high 32 points in what would ultimately be a 31-point win for Post, 88-57, when all was set and done. Highlighting that strong second-half surge was a 53-point performance as a team in which the Eagles shot 18-for-33 (54.5%) from the field and 5-for-9 (55.5%) from three comparably to just 7-for-21 (33.3%) overall and 3-for-8 (37.5%) from three for the Cougars. 

Beyond Deang's 23 points, Small (14 points), Sanders (12 points), Williams (11 points), and senior forward Kyle Alcy (10 points) all finished in double figures for the Eagles while hitting at least 50% of their shots. Small, Sanders, and Williams all went 5-for-10 from the field, while Alcy was near-perfect at 4-for-5 in the game. Sophomore guard Jaiden Williams led Caldwell with 11 points, tied alongside senior guard Mark Heber and Evans, while senior forward Derrick Bueno finished with 10 points.

In all, six technical fouls were awarded between the two teams, resulting in Cougars Head Coach Dean Johnson being ejected along with Bueno, while Evans was also issued a technical in the affair. The lone technical foul to go against Post would be awarded to Small in the win. 

BY THE NUMBERS  

• Deng Deang finished with a game-high 23 points on 6-for-12 shooting while hitting all nine of his free throws -- Deang has now reached double digits in four of his last five games played for Post University
• Post University is now 11-1 this season when leading at halftime while holding a 3-9 record when trailing at halftime -- The Eagles are 1-1 when tied at halftime, having their overtime win against AIC on December 18th, 2024
• Allowing just 57 points to Caldwell University, the defensive showing tied Post University for the fewest points allowed this season with their other game against the Cougars, which they lost on the road, 57-56 
• This afternoon's win for Post University snapped a six-game losing streak against Caldwell University in the all-time series, which dated back to February 23rd, 2022 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University takes on Bloomfield College next Saturday at 3:00 PM in the Drubner Center for their home regular-season finale and Senior Day. The Eagles have struggled against the Bears in their last five matchups, dropping four of them, including each of the last two, which have come on the road, by 87-75 and 76-71 final scores.