CALDWELL, N.J. – The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball ( team outscored the Bears 50-36 in the first half as they shot 56.9% on the floor as the Rams earned a 89-69 victory over Bloomfield College of Montclair State University (22-9) to win the CACC Championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
 
WHAT HAPPENED
Bloomfield got out early 5-0 by way of Deavion Ellis three and layup. The Rams evened it at 7-7 by Hakim Byrd shot beyond the arc and Ahmed Barba-Bey good shot. After trade baskets, Byrd made three straight three pointers, giving him 14 of his 16 first half points in the first eight minutes of the half. Building a 20-11 lead, the Bears went on a 9-2 run to trail by two points. Erik Timko got a layup and three, pushing Jefferson ahead 30-24 with 7:19 in the first half.
 
Bismark Nsiah and Byrd both made their shots to get the first double digit lead of the contest, with the Rams being up 34-24. Bloomfield and Jefferson started to trade shots, as the Bears Izaiah Poole and the Rams' Ashton Miller made threes while Edward Ngene and Antonin Kemkeng hit layups with the game standing at 39-32. Nsiah put down two free throws, took a defensive rebound while hitting a layup, and finished it off with a steal that lead to Timko slamming a dunk down as Jefferson went into the break up 50-36 over the Bears.
 
Jefferson delivered a stellar first half, shooting 73.1% on the floor with 19 of their 26 shots going in the basket. 8-10 of those were from beyond the arc, with Byrd going 4-5 in the first half, as the Rams were 80% on threes. Jefferson was 4-4 from the charity stripe in the first half. Bloomfield made 13-of-31 shots, holding a 41.9 shooting percentage. The Bears were 4-14 from three, holding a 28.6% from that range. Bloomfield went a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line.
 
Second half saw each team trade shots, with Timko making a three while Ellis finished an and-one play. Ngene put up a layup with teammates Abdallah Elsaleh and Al Fatir to draw the Bears within 10 points of Jefferson early in the second half. Kemkeng made his layup and Barba-Bey put in both free throws for the Rams to retake the 14 point lead. Both Bloomfield and Jefferson began to trade shots back and forth, neither side allowing their opposition any chance to differentiate the score. The Rams broke that standstill, outscoring Bloomfield 9-3 as they held their lead as high as a 20-point differential.  
 
Nsiah making a three and Byrd's two free throws got Jefferson up 84-65 with less than 3:30 to go in the game. Jefferson went to get another offensive rebound, outrebounding the Bears 13-9 in that category with 11 of those from the Rams came in the second half. Nsiah's driving layup was the last score from the starters, with the Rams' replacing their players to finish out the last minute of the game. Jack Moynihan made the most of it with a three-pointer from the senior as Jefferson went out to take the CACC Championship title 89-69, winning the conference tournament for the first time since 2018-19 season.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Hakim Byrd: 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting (5-8 3PT), 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Erik Timko: 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting (3-6 3PT), 6 rebounds
Bismark Nsiah: 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting (1-1 3PT), 11 rebounds, 5 assists
Ahmed Barba-Bey: 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting (2-5 3PT), 3 assists
Antonin Kemkeng: 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT
Jefferson had four of their players make the All-CACC Tournament Team. Antonin Kemkeng, Erik Timko, Bismark Nsiah, and Hakim Byrd. Byrd also secured the CACC Tournament MVP distinction.
 
SIXTH CHAMPIONSHIP, FIRST TITLE
This win gives Jefferson their sixth CACC Championship in school history, the 14^th conference title for the Rams overall. But this is a first championship for second year head coach Jimmy Reilly, who was an assistant on the other five CACC titles for the Rams.
 
UP NEXT
Jefferson will now wait for where they will travel as the Rams will watch the NCAA Selection Show for their seeding in the tournament. The selection show begins at 11 p.m. tonight.