Devils Defense Does in Eagles

Eric Cangelosi scored a game-high 23 points as the University of the Sciences held Post University scoreless for the final 4:28 to come away with a 60-57 win in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) men's basketball game this afternoon at the Bobby Morgan Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Devils improve to 9-11 overall with the win and 7-8 in CACC games. Post falls to 9-12 overall and 8-8 in league play.

Cangelosi (Jr., Camden Catholic HS/Haddon Heights, NJ) led the Devils with 23 points (10-19 FG) while Shane Connor came off the bench to score 10. Arthur Robertson paced the Eagles with 13 points while Justin Skipwith and Peter Lawal had 12 points apiece.

The Devils started the second half trailing by ten 38-28 and trailed by as many as 13, 42-29 in the opening minutes. The Devils went on a 10-0 run to pull within three 42-39 at the 15:08 mark. USP still trailed by three, 52-49 when Conner hit a three-point field goal to tie the game at 52-all with 8:59 left.

Post quickly went back up by four on a free throw by Jesse Iyalekhue and a three-point field goal by A.J. Reitter, taking a 56-52 lead with 6:21 left. USP's defense then went to work, holding the Eagles without a field goal the rest of the way and limiting Post to just one point (a free throw by Skipwith at the 4:28 mark) for the remainder of the game. USP finished the game outscoring the Eagles 8-1.

Cangelosi's jumper at the 4:49 mark brought the Devils within two, 56-54 before Skipwith made one of two from the line to put the Eagles back up by three 57-54 with 4:28 left. Twenty seconds later, Bill Kurtz (Jr., Shawnee HS/Shamong, NJ) put back his own miss to pull the Devils within one again, 57-56. It wasn't until Cangelosi scored the last of his 23 points with 40 seconds left that the Devils took their first lead since the 18:32 mark of the first half, 58-57.

On Post's next possession, Skipwith was called for a player control foul and the Devils got the ball back with 17 seconds left. Collin Harrington (Jr., Bishop Eustace HS/Sewell, NJ) was fouled after the inbounds, missed the front end of the one-and-one but Kurtz grabbed the crucial rebound and was fouled with 14 seconds left. Kurtz sank both free throws to make the score 60-57. Gary Shick's three point shot was short in the final seconds as Cangelosi grabbed the rebound and was fouled with .1 second left. Both free throws rolled around and out but Post was unable to get off a final shot as the Devils hung on to win by three.

Post shot 47.8% for the game(22-45) but were just 7-for-18 in the second half (38.9%). USP connected on 40% of their shots for the game (22-55). The Eagles held a slight edge on the boards, 34-32 but committed 17 turnovers to USP's five. The Devils made 13 of 25 free throws (52%) while Post made just five of nine (55.6%).

USP is off until Thursday, February 9, 2006 when they travel north to take on Nyack College. Tip off is scheduled for 8 p.m.