Box Score BOX SCORE
Center Valley, Pa. (December 19, 2007) – Another strong defensive effort helped the DeSales University men's basketball team improve to 8-1 overall as the Bulldogs swept its mini-series with local rivals Moravian College and Muhlenberg College this season with a 60-50 win over the Mules on Wednesday evening.
In what has become a theme this season, DeSales has held all but one of its opponents to 60 or less points all ending in Bulldog victories. DSU entered the evening ranked 14th in the country in scoring defense (57.3 PPG) and lowered that down to 56.4 points per game with the win in Memorial Hall. The Bulldogs also owned the glass out-rebounding the Mules, 37-22, including 11 offensive rebounds all of which came in the second half.
DeSales tightened the defensive clamps from the very beginning as they opened up a 9-0 lead and did not allow a single Muhlenberg (5-5 overall) point until the 11:48 mark on a jumper from Mike Bernardini. The game went back-and-forth over the next eight minutes before an 8-0 run in a span of 1:17 late in the half gave DSU a 30-18 lead before both teams headed for the locker rooms with the Bulldogs holding a 32-22 advantage. Senior Jamie McCloskey (Newark, DE/St. Mark's) and junior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) started the spurt with back-to-back treys and junior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) added two free throws at the 2:40 mark to give DSU its largest lead of the half.
The Mules cut into the lead at the start of the second stanza with a 7-1 run that made the score, 37-34, but that was the closest the hosts got the rest of the game. Six consecutive points by senior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) pushed a six-point lead into another 12-point cushion at the 7:35 mark and senior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) and sophomore Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) combined to shoot 8-for-8 from the charity stripe over the last two minutes to clinch the road win for DeSales.
Stricker finished with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds to record the second double-double of the season and the ninth of his career. Braswell also reached double digits with 12 points, 10 in the first half, and added seven rebounds, while Lapinski tallied 11 points and grabbed six boards. Ohlson finished with nine points and dished out four assists
Muhlenberg was led by Obi Nwizugbo with 15 points and Bernardini with 11 points. Darrell Roth came off the bench to score nine points in the loss.
Having played its first game in 11 days DeSales will now take 16 more days off before they take the floor for a game when they face Briarcliffe College in the first game of the Casa Mia Holiday Tournament at DeSales at 6:00 pm. Grove City College and John Carroll University will be the second game at 8:00 pm. Those unable to attend can follow the DeSales game online via LIVE stats at the following link - http://livestats.internetconsult.com/desales/mbball/.
