RADNOR, PA – Four Cavaliers scored in double figures, as the Cabrini men's basketball team rolled to a 105-76 win over defending Colonial States Athletic Conference champion Neumann University tonight at Nerney Field House.
With its eighth consecutive win, the Blue and White improved to 13-2 overall and 8-1 in the conference, while the Knights fell to 11-4 and 6-3 in league play.
Senior
Deryl Bagwell led the Cavaliers with his first career triple-double, pairing 19 points with career highs of 17 rebounds and 10 assists. A catalyst to Cabrini outscoring Neumann 59-34 in the second half, Bagwell posted 13 points, 10 boards and five assists after the break.
Bagwell's' triple-double marks just the 14th triple-double in Division III this season and the first for the Cavaliers since Aaron Walton-Moss recorded 18 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists on Feb. 24, 2015.
Sophomore
Keith Blassingale recorded a career high 29 points with three steals, while senior
Tyheim Monroe notched his 14th double-double of the season with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
The teams took a few minutes to feel each other out, but with the score tied at 9-9, Cabrini used a 9-0 spurt, including a Bagwell to Monroe fast break dunk, to give the Cavaliers an 18-9 lead at the 13:49 mark.
Minutes later, the Cavaliers used a 12-0 run to extend their lead to 35-16, as junior
Mike Doyle drained a triple with 7:17 to play.
The Knights found their rhythm in the final four minutes of the first half, as it closed the stanza on an 18-5 run, pulling within 46-42 at the halftime buzzer.
Both teams exchanged buckets over the opening minutes of the second half, but Cabrini never allowed the Knights to even the score. A Neumann lay-up pulled the Knights to within 56-53, but Cabrini had an answer.
Over the next 2:15, the Cavaliers went on a 13-2 run, as an offensive rebound and put-back by junior
Anthony Wright-Downing extended the lead to 69-55.
The Cavaliers never allowed the Knights to get any closer, as they connected on 62.2% of their second half field goal attempts and turned the ball over just six times after the break.
While the Cabrini offense fired on all cylinders, its defense effort was just a successful in the second half, as it held Neumann to just 14-40 from the field, including 2-10 from three point range.
Wright-Downing finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots in just 21 minutes of action, while freshman
DJ Smith paired nine points and five boards.
Junior Gemel Holbrook led Neumann with 21 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while sophomore Raquan Brown-Johnson added 20 points.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Friday night, as they make the trip to Marywood University. The CSAC action will tip at 7pm in Scranton, PA.