RADNOR, Pa. – The Cabrini men's basketball season came to a disappointing end tonight at Nerney Field House, as the Cavaliers suffered a 93-92 overtime loss to Neumann University in the Colonial States Athletic Conference championship game.
The loss ends the Blue and White's season at 17-10 and snaps its streak of five consecutive league titles, while the Knights earn their first and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The loss also ends the careers of the Cavaliers' three seniors,
Howard Blake III,
Vinny Walls and
Aaron Walton-Moss. The trio led Cabrini to 100 wins, three CSAC titles and the 2012 NCAA Championship game.
Walton-Moss also closes his career as Cabrini's all-time leader with 1,641 points and 906 rebounds, while his 495 career assists rank third.
Walton-Moss led all scorers with a season high 36 points, including hitting 10 of his 11 free throws, to go with 17 rebounds. Freshman
Tyheim Monroe added a career high 24 points and nine boards. Walls tallied 15 points and five rebounds in his final appearance in the Blue and White, while freshman
Jair Green posted 13 points, six rebounds and three steals.
The game was tight in the early going, as Cabrini held a slim lead throughout most of the opening 20 minutes. A lay-up by sophomore
Ryan Charity sent the Cavaliers to a 10-0 spurt, extending its lead to 40-26 with 3:02 left in the first half.
The Blue and White shot 45.7% from the floor and connected on 10-10 from the free throw line in the first half, as it led 45-35 at the break.
The Knights used an 8-0 run early in the second half to cut its deficit to 53-49 and eventually tied the score at 57 at the 12:11 mark. The Cavaliers regained the momentum with seven quick points, but could not get the bucket to pull away.
Neumann continued its comeback, taking its first lead since the game's opening minutes on a DeShawn Lowman lay-up with 3:11 to play. A Walton-Moss bucket returned the lead to Cabrini before Walls and Green split pairs of free throws to extend the lead to 80-77 with 48 seconds to play.
Neumann cut the lead back to 80-79 before Monroe stepped to the free throw line and calmly knocked in two, putting the Blue and White ahead 82-79 with 24 seconds on the clock.
With the clock winding down and Neumann seemingly struggling to find a shot, Kevin Green pump faked and launched three pointer in heavy traffic, tying the score at 82 with just three seconds on the clock, sending the game to overtime.
Neumann scored the first bucket in the extra period and the teams went back and forth until four consecutive points put the Knights ahead 91-88 with 1:22 to play.
A pair of Walton-Moss free throws cut the lead to two before the senior found Monroe for a lay-up on Cabrini's next possession. The Cavaliers held their final lead of the game at 92-91 with 24 seconds to play, as Neumann's Denzell Yard hit the game winner with 12 seconds to play.
Neumann's James Butler was named Most Valuable Player after leading five Knights in double figures with 31 points and 13 rebounds. Yard finished with 17 points and six boards, while Lowman tallies 15 points, five boards and four assists.