Center Valley, PA, (February 1, 2006) – The DeSales University men’s basketball team shot 50 percent from the field and out-scored Drew University 43-26 in the second-half to record its fourth straight win, 72-56, in Freedom Conference action on Wednesday evening in Billera Hall.

 

        A sluggish first-half was turned around in the second-half as DSU (14-5, 5-4 Freedom) made 16-of-32 shots and went 9-for-20 from three-point land to erase a one-point halftime deficit and win easily, 72-56, over the Rangers (8-12, 3-6 Freedom).

 

        The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 11 points, 17-6, in the early going before an 18-7 run tied the game at 24 with 4:48 to go in the opening half.  During the run, senior Drew Christman (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) was unconscious from deep hitting 4-of-5 shots from outside the arc and scoring 12 of the 18 points.

 

        Drew hit back-to-back three’s to push its lead back to six points but two free throws from sophomore Jamie McCloskey (Newark, DE/St. Mark’s) and a three by junior Sedale Walton (Levittown, PA/Harry S. Truman) made it a 30-29 game at the half.  Christman had a game-high 12 at the break as DeSales shot just 40 percent from the field, while Drew converted 44 percent of its attempts.

 

        The second half was dominated by DeSales at the very beginning with the Bulldogs going on an 11-0 run out of the locker rooms to take a 40-30 lead.  Freshman Jeff Raimo (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) hit a three, Walton converted a lay-up, Christman hit a three and sophomore Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) converted a lay-up plus one during the spurt.

 

        The Rangers stayed within 10 or less over the next six minutes and trailed by just seven with 12:05 to go before a 12-1 run put an end to their hopes.  The run was orchestrated by senior Mike Zinn (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) as he ignited the Bulldog nets for four treys and all 12 of the DSU points during the game clinching spurt.

 

        Christman finished with a game-high 20 points including six treys and Zinn totaled 12 points, all during the game-clinching second-half run.  Walton and Raimo continued their hot play in the starting lineup with 10 points apiece and sophomore Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) was his usual creative self dishing out a career-high 12 assists.  Junior Marvin Satchell (Philadelphia, PA/Engineering & Science) finished with a career-high eight points and eight rebounds to lead the charge off the bench.

 

        Sophomore David Cramer was the lone Ranger in double figures with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.