Basketball Spotlight: Devils Hold Off Nyack for Third Straight CACC Win Saturday, February 19, 2005 By Bob Heller USIP Sports Information Director The University of the Sciences men's basketball team put themselves right back into the heart of the conference playoff race as they held off a Nyack rally down the stretch to defeat the Warriors 64-51 and earn their third straight Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) win. The win boosts the Devils record to 11-14 overall and 10-8 in conference play. The win also assures the Devils of a playoff spot as they can finish no worse than 10-10 in the league and three of the 11 teams in the league already have 11 losses. (The top eight teams qualify for playoffs). Nyack falls to 15-10 overall and 10-7 in league play. Chris Brattelli (Sr., Highland Regional HS/Clementon, NJ) led the Devils with 19 points. Chris Dougherty (Sr., Haverford HS/Haverford, PA) and Eric Cangelosi (So., Camden Catholic HS/ Haddon Heights, NJ) each chipped in 10 to join Brattelli in double figures. Lataiva Escho scored 21 for Nyack and Antaeus Hayes added 11. The Devils held a five point lead at the break 25-20 and opened the second period with an 8-4 run to go up by nine 33-24 with 16:21 left. Nyack cut the lead back down to four three times over the next 2:08, the last time on a Hayes basket to make the score 37-33 at the 14:13 mark. USP then went on a 9-0 run over the next 5:03 to take their biggest lead of the game, 46-33 at the 9:11 mark. Brattelli started things off by making a layup and being fouled in the process, converting the free throw to complete the three-point play. Brattelli added another layup at the 10:59 mark and Cangelosi and Howard Lanier (Fr., St. Augustine Prep/Sicklerville, NJ) each sank a pair of free throws to complete the run. Nyack countered with a 9-0 run of their own to pull within four again, 46-42 at the 6:53 mark. Escho had a pair of free throws and a layup while the Warriors got a layup from Will McAllister and a three-point field goal from Maurice Bennett to complete the run. Brattelli and Cangelosi added baskets to quickly put the Devils back up by eight 50-42 at the 5:38 mark. Nyack was able to pull back within five 54-49 with just 3:33 left before the Devils pulled away to secure the win. USP closed out the game with a 10-2 run to make the final score 64-51. Dougherty started things off with a layup at the 3:17 mark. Bennett added a free throw for Nyack to make the score 56-50. Pete Adams (Sr., Camden Catholic HS/Marlton, NJ) followed with a layup with just 44 seconds left to go up by eight 58-50. Hayes made a free throw for Nyack to make the score 58-51 before the Devils sank six of eight free throws over the final 25 seconds to make the final margin of 13 points, 64-61. Next up for the Devils will be a crucial conference matchup at Caldwell College on Tuesday, February 22, 2005.