Colby-Sawyer Advances to Cave Classic Championship Game

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Colby-Sawyer College men’s basketball team posted a 90-64 victory over Castleton University in game two of The Cave Classic on Friday evening at the Tinsley Center.

With the win, the Chargers (1-0) advance to the tournament championship game on Saturday afternoon at three against Salve Regina University. The Spartans (1-1) will play in the consolation game at one o’clock versus tournament host Bridgewater State University.

Senior guard Jourdain Bell (Manchester, N.H.) paced the Chargers with a game-high 19 points to go along with four rebounds and five assists, while junior center Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-best 14 boards. Junior forward Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) checked in with 16 points and six rebounds.

Senior guard Tank Roberson (Pittsfield, Mass.) led the Spartans with 17 points.

Colby-Sawyer held a one-point lead (19-18) with just under ten minutes remaining in the first half. An 8-0 run helped the Chargers take control of the game as they outscored the Spartans 29-10 for the rest of the first half to take a 48-28 advantage into the break.

Bell scored 17 points over the first 20 minutes as he was 7-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-3 from behind the arc. Coffey added ten first-half points for the Chargers who shot 53% (20-38) in the opening stanza including 8-for-13 (62%) from three-point range.

Trailing 63-37 with 14:58 remaining in the second half, Castleton ripped off an 11-0 run over a 2 ½ minute span behind a pair of Casey Belade (Shelton, Conn.) three-pointers and five points from Roberson to close the gap to 63-48. After a stop, the Spartans had a chance to get to within 13, but couldn’t convert. The Chargers then answered with an 8-0 run to push the lead back to 23, 71-48, with 9:33 showing on the scoreboard. Colby-Sawyer got up by as many as 27 points in the second half before coming away with the 90-64 victory.

The Chargers shot 48% (37-77) for the game and held a decided 50-30 rebounding advantage including a 19-8 edge on the offensive glass. The Spartans shot just 38% (23-60) from the floor.