Tigers Earn South Division Title; Defeats Goldey-Beacom 84-61

BOX SCORE


Wilmington, Del. - A few hours after watching the women's basketball team clinch the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) South Division Title, the Holy Family University men's basketball team followed suit after defeating Goldey-Beacom, 84-61, Saturday afternoon at the Joseph West Jones College Center. 
 
Holy Family, winners of five straight games, concludes the regular season with a 17-9 overall record and 13-4 in the CACC.  The Tigers' record marks to most overall and conference victories since the 2007-08 season when the Tigers finished 21-10 overall and 12-4 in the CACC. 
 
The win clinched the CACC South Division Title for the Tigers and the No. 1 seed in the South Division in the upcoming CACC Tournament.  This marks the first time in program history that Holy Family has won the division title outright.  The Tigers previously shared regular season titles in 2006-07 and 2004-05.
 
Goldey-Beacom wraps up the season at 8-18 overall and 4-13 in conference play.
 
Holy Family had five players scored in double-figures to pace the offense, including junior Alberto Munoz (Morrisville, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) who scored a game-high 15 points.  Sophomore Richard Council (New York, N.Y./Rice) finished with 13 points after shooting 6-of-9 from the field.  Council also grabbed eight rebounds.
 
Senior Angel Ayala (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) came off the bench and came one rebound short of his third straight double-double.  Ayala finished with 12 points and nine rebounds after shooting 6-of-10 from the field.  Junior Ervin Ezell (Deptford, N.J./Deptford High)contributed 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, while freshman Isaiah Gans (Philadelphia, Pa./Redemption Christian Academy)added 11 points and seven rebounds.  Gans shot 5-of-8 from the field. 
 
For Goldey-Beacom, junior A.J. Picard led the team with 14 points after knocking down four three-pointers (4-9).  Fellow classmate Will Williams added 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.  Williams converted 7-of-9 from the free throw line.  Senior Lawrence Livingston contributed nine points and seven rebounds.
 
Goldey-Beacom led early on after opening the game with a 10-4 run.  The Lightning maintained their advantage for the majority of the half, until Holy Family took possession of the lead for the first time after freshman Tuhran Griffin (Philadelphia, Pa./Franklin Learning Center)knocked down a jumper.  Griffin's basket gave the Tigers a 19-18 lead with 7:18 to play in the half.
 
Leading 28-25 in the final three minutes, Holy Family closed out the half on an 8-0 run to take its biggest lead to that point by the score of 36-25 at halftime. 
 
In the second half, Holy Family continued to roll offensively as the Tigers maintained a double-digit lead for nearly the entire half.  The Tigers led by as many as 25 points late in the half after a dunk by Munoz made the score 76-51 at the 3:59 mark.
 
Holy Family shot 55.9-percent from the field in the second half as the Tigers outscored the Lightning, 48-36.  The Tigers shot 50.0-percent from the field for the game, while Goldey-Beacom shot 27.0-percent for the game.
 
Holy Family will host Felician College on Saturday, March 2 in the quarterfinals of the CACC Tournament.  Game time is slated for 4:30 p.m.  The Golden Falcons earned the No. 4 seed from the North Division after finishing conference play with a 9-9 mark.   
 
 

- HFU -