Williamsport, PA, (January 25, 2006) – Four players reached double digits and the DeSales University men’s basketball team shot 60 percent in the second-half to erase a 10-point halftime deficit and defeat Lycoming College, 77-69, in a very important Freedom Conference game on Wednesday evening in Williamsport, PA.

 

        The win improves DeSales to 11-5 overall, 3-4 in the Freedom Conference and moves the Bulldogs into sole possession of fourth place at the halfway mark of the conference season.  The loss drops the Warriors to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the Freedom.

 

        DeSales started the game on fire building a 9-2 lead and hitting four of its first five shots before Lycoming took control of the game with a 19-4 run that gave the hosts a 21-13 lead with 11:28 remaining in the half.

 

        After DSU cut the margin down to five points on a trey by freshman Jeff Raimo (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) the Warriors scored 11 of the next 13 points to take a 32-18 lead with just under five to play.  The lead peaked at 15 points, 36-21, before the Bulldogs finished the half on a 6-1 run to trail by 10 at the break.

 

        The Warriors shot 50 percent (12-of-24) from the field in the opening half and senior Jonathan Pribble single handedly had LC on top scoring a game-high 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting including 5-of-6 from three-point land.  The Bulldogs hurt themselves by committing 11 turnovers and making just 3-of-14 from outside the arc.

 

        The second half started with Lycoming still in control and increasing its lead by two points, 45-33, at the 15:20 mark.  A DSU timeout followed a Pribble jumper that made it a 12-point game and the Bulldogs responded out of the timeout with a 13-0 run to take a 46-45 lead with 12:30 to play.

 

        Sophomore Jamie McCloskey (Newark, DE/St. Mark’s) started the spurt with a three; junior Marvin Satchell (Philadelphia, PA/Engineering & Science) put back a miss on the next possession, junior Steve Kriczky (Birdsboro, PA/Daniel Boone) hit a trey and converted a lay-up on back-to-back possessions and McCloskey ended the run with another trey from the left corner.

 

        Over the next six minutes the game featured one tie and six lead changes with the last change coming at the 6:25 mark on Satchell’s second offensive put-back of the game to give DSU a 57-56 lead.  Leading 61-60 at the 4:43 mark, a 9-2 run gave DSU a 70-62 lead with 2:02 left.  Junior Sedale Walton (Levittown, PA/Harry S. Truman) had two jumpers, Raimo connected on a trey and senior Drew Christman (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) hit two freebies during the spurt.

 

        Leading by seven with 52 ticks left, Pribble nearly brought the Warriors all the way back himself.  He was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three free throws, stole a pass in the backcourt on DSU’s possession but his reverse lay-up under the basket rolled around the rim twice and fell out.  The Bulldogs hit 4-of-6 from the charity stripe the rest of the way to post the final margin.

 

        Walton led the balanced attack with a career-high 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.  Sophomore Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) totaled 12 points, while Christman and Raimo each added 11 points to round out the double figure scorers.  Kriczky and McCloskey led the charge off the bench with eight points and sophomore Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) finished with eight points, six assists and five steals.

 

        Pribble finished a game-high 29 points but scored just nine in the second half, shooting just 2-for-10 from the field over the last 20 minutes.  Freshman Greg Sye added 18 points and senior Brad Musser finished with 11 points.