Box Score BOX SCORE (Consolation)
BOX SCORE (Championship)
Center Valley, Pa. (January 5, 2008) – Senior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) earned Most Valuable Player honors leading the DeSales University men's basketball team to its sixth straight Casa Mia Holiday Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon with a 97-80 win over John Carroll University.
The Bulldogs improve to 10-1 overall with their fifth straight win, while John Carroll falls to 5-5 overall on the season. DSU torched the nets for the second straight game shooting 63.2 percent from the field and 56.0 percent (14-for-25) from three-point land. JCU also shot well converting 52.0 percent and 47.4 percent outside the arc. DeSales has now won 19-straight games at home and can tie the record for most consecutive home wins on Wednesday when they host Delaware Valley College in the Freedom Conference season opener beginning at 8:00 pm.
The Bulldogs started strong for the second straight game opening up a 29-15 lead at the 10:03 mark after three straight triples from junior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen), junior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and sophomore Rob Schubach (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh). DSU continued to hold a healthy 13-point advantage before the JCU ended the half on a 12-4 run led by 10 points from Terry Walsh as DeSales clung to a 46-41 halftime lead.
The second half was a battle on both ends of the court. John Carroll made an early run cutting a seven-point deficit down into the first and only tie of the game at 61 with a 12-5 run at the 13:28 mark. The Bulldogs answered the Blue Streaks rally with one of their own using a 13-4 run over the next four minutes to build a 74-65 lead. Senior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) led the charge with seven points, while Zwetolitz and sophomore Charles Princiotto (Woodcliff Lake, NJ/Pascack Hills) each hit three-pointers during the spurt.
Leading by 10 at the 5:30 mark, JCU got within six points on a short jumper from Maurice Haynes and a running lay-in from Walsh but another trey from Zwetolitz ignited a 13-0 run that put the hosts up 96-77 and put the game out of reach with 2:02 left to play.
Ohlson earned Most Valuable Player honors after totaling seven points and 13 assists in the championship game giving the senior point guard 26 assists and just four turnovers over the two tournament games. He now has 98 assists on the season 594 in his career. Ohlson needs just 20 more helpers to move into 24th on the all-time assist list among all NCAA Division III players.
Stricker (21 points) and sophomore Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) (20 points) also earned All-Tournament Team honors for the Bulldogs, while Lapinski finished with a strong line of 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Zwetolitz came off the bench to score 12 points and senior Jamie McCloskey (Newark, DE/St. Mark's) was terrific off the bench particularly on the defensive side of the ball in the second half.
Walsh led the Blue Streaks with a tournament-high 34 points on 9-of-19 shooting including five three's and was named to the All-Tournament team. Jason Thompson and Rudy Kirbus each added 14 points in the loss.
In the consolation game, Grove City College used a 15-4 run mid-way thru the second half to break a tie at 50 and pull away from Briarcliffe College (83-68). Four players reached double digits for the Wolverines including Andy O'Keefe (18 points), Bobby Turner (15 points), Shawn Carr (14 points) and Joe Capotosta (12 points) and Ryan Gibson was named to the All-Tournament team for the Grove City College.
The Seahawks had five players reach double digits including Marcel Seymore (16 points), Nikita Davis (15 points), Mike Woods (11 points), Danny Napolitano (10 points) and Josh Smith (12 points) who earned All-Tournament team honors for Briarcliffe.
The Bulldogs will return to action on Wednesday, January 9th when they host Delaware Valley College in the 2007-08 Freedom Conference season opener in Billera Hall beginning at 8:00 pm. You can follow the game online at the following link - http://livestats.internetconsult.com/desales/mbball/ if you are unable to attend.
