Center Valley, PA, (January 8, 2005) – Senior Michael Venafra (Belmont Hills, PA/Lower Merion) scored 15 of his 21 points in the second half leading the DeSales University men’s basketball team past Elizabethtown College, 69-64, in the championship game of the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament.  The Bulldogs improve to 9-3 overall and win its fourth straight Casa Mia title in the fourth year of the tournament, while the Blue Jays fall to 7-6 overall.

 

        E-town was in complete control of this game through the first 16 ½ minutes as they led 32-14 with 4:38 left in the first half.  DSU got back in the game with a 15-6 run over the last 4:38 to trail by just nine points, 38-29, at the mid-way point.  Juniors Drew Christman (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and Mike Zinn (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) scored 11 of the 15 points during the spurt.

 

        The Blue Jays continued to lead through the start of the second half, holding a five point edge, 50-45, with 14:07 remaining.  A quick 5-0 run by DSU tied the score at 50 and the game remained tied at 55 with 8:40 to play.  Two consecutive lay-ups by senior David Spadt (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) gave DSU its first lead since 12-11 in the first half but the Blue Jays refused to quit and answered with a 9-2 run to take a three point lead, 64-61, with 3:26 left.

 

        Two freebies by Venafra cut the deficit to one and two more charity tosses by Spadt gave DSU a one-point lead at 65-64 with 2:06 remaining.  Two consecutive steals gave the Blue Jays possession but a missed three-pointer saw DSU on the foul line with a one-point lead and 56 seconds left.  The Bulldogs missed both free throws but after being tipped around the ball landed in Spadt’s hands and the Bulldogs regained possession.

 

        After working the shot clock, DSU missed an open 15-foot jumper but senior Kyle Koch (Lehighton, PA/Lehighton) grabbed the offensive board and found Venafra, an 80 percent career free throw shooter, who was fouled by E-Town.

 

        Venafra knocked down both shots and the Bulldogs led by three with just 14 ticks left.  With a chance to tie, Spadt stripped the Blue Jay shooter and the ball was knocked out of bounds off Elizabethtown.  Venafra hit two more foul shots providing the final five point margin.

 

        Venafra was named the Most Valuable Player as he averaged 20.5 points over the two games.  Koch was also named to the All-Tournament squad for DeSales after pulling a huge offensive rebound and scoring 16 points in the first round game.  Zinn and Christman were terrific on Saturday combining for 26 points off the bench on a combined 10-of-13 shooting effort.  Spadt added eight points, six rebounds and four assists in the championship game win.

 

        Jon Connor, 10 points on Saturday, and Kyle Conrad, 13 points on Saturday, were each named to All-Tournament team for Elizabethtown.  Andrew Flynn added 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Jays in the loss.

 

        In the consolation game, Grove City College (6-7 overall) jumped to a 14-point first half lead on the strength of 65.4 percent shooting in the opening twenty minutes and held on the second half to record a 90-79 win.  GCC shot 61.5 percent from the field for the game and out-rebounded Averett (3-6 overall) 27-22.

 

        Ryan Eller scored a team-high 24 points added six rebounds and six assists and was named to All-Tournament team for the Wolverines.  Phil Bushre added 21 points and J.D. Collar totaled 19 points in the win.

 

        The Cougars received 25 points from Sterling Williams, who was also named to the All-Tournament team in the loss.  Jeremy Haskins added 10 points in the loss.