Braswell/Lapinski Lead DeSales past Alvernia; #1 Seed in Freedom Playoffs

Junior Darnell Braswell recorded his fifth double-double of the season in the win on Saturday at Alvernia.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Reading, PA (February 21, 2009) – Junior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) and senior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) combined for 46 points and 20 rebounds leading the DeSales University men's basketball team past Alvernia University, 65-62, in the Freedom Conference regular season finale on Saturday afternoon in the Physical Education Center.

The Bulldogs finish the regular season with a 20-5 overall record and a 12-4 mark in the Freedom Conference, tied atop the standings with Manhattanville College. DSU owns the tiebreaker over the Valiants and will be the #1 seed in this week's Freedom Conference playoffs. DeSales will host the winner of the Wilkes University/Delaware Valley College game being played on Monday night at the Marts Center. The winner of that game meets the Bulldogs in Billera Hall on Wednesday at 8:00 pm. The other semifinal sees Eastern University travel to Manhattanville College on Wednesday evening as well.

The 1-2 punch of Braswell and Lapinski was phenomenal on Saturday as they tallied 46 of the 65 DeSales points and grabbed 20 of the 38 rebounds. Alvernia started the game with lots of energy as its five seniors playing in their last-ever game seemed as though they wanted to leave the PEC with a win. A fast break dunk by senior Tyrone Bradley had the hosts up eight, 24-16, at the 8:44 mark before DeSales picked up its effort.

A 10-2 run highlighted and finished off by a three-point play from Braswell not only tied the game at 26 but also gave Braswell the 1,000^th point of his career, making him the 22^nd player in DSU history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The game remained tied at 28 before DeSales scored four of the final five points of the half to take a 32-29 lead into the locker room.

Both teams shot well in the opening half but the Bulldogs enjoyed a 21-12 edge on the glass and took advantage out-scoring AU, 7-0, on second chance points over the first twenty minutes.

The start of the second half was all DeSales as they opened up as much as a nine-point lead twice and continued to lead by eight, 45-37, at the 14:28 mark before the Crusaders (10-15, 6-10 Freedom) went on a 12-0 run to take a 49-45 lead with 9:36 left to play. During the spurt, DSU went 0-for-4 from the field but more importantly committed four turnovers during the five minute stretch leading to some easy buckets for Alvernia.

After a DSU timeout, the Bulldogs settled down and senior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) ended the drought with a long two-pointer from the left baseline to pull DSU within two. After a three-pointer from senior David Washington, Zwetolitz hit a lay-up and Braswell converted another three-point play to tie the game at 52.

The two teams went back-and-forth over the next four minutes and with 2:18 to go the game remained tied at 60 after a free throw from senior Jeff Amponsah. Braswell, as he has all season long, came up big on the other end hitting a short jumper in the lane to make it 62-60, but Washington answered with a baseline jumper to tie the game for the 10^th time at 62.

Once again it was Braswell answering the challenge. With the shot clock winding down he had the ball at the top of the key and pulled up for a contested three-pointer that touched nothing but net giving DSU a 65-62 lead with 1:14 remaining. Senior Tim Walters missed a trey on the other end and DSU got the rebound. Braswell missed another trey attempt on the left wing to ice the game but after several timeouts and 17 seconds remaining, DeSales played terrific three-point defense and forced Washington into an off-balance trey attempt at the buzzer that hit high off the backboard as time expired.

Braswell totaled 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting surpassing his previous career-high of 22 which he accomplished twice. He added 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and also had three assists and four steals. Lapinski totaled 20 points on 10-of-14 shooting and pulled down eight boards. Zwetoltiz and sophomore Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) each had four assists and freshman Bob Zanneo (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) totaled six points off the bench.

Walters led the Crusaders with a team-high 18 points, while Charlie Hughes added 12 points. Tyrone Bradley had eight points and a team-high 10 pulls in the loss.

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