Box Score BOX SCORE
Doylestown, Pa. (February 13, 2008) – Junior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and senior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) combined for 32 of DSU's 48 points in the second half as the Bulldogs out-scored Delaware Valley College, 48-33, in the final 20 minutes to pull away for a 78-63 Freedom Conference win on Wednesday evening in James Work Gymnasium.
The win improves the Bulldogs to 18-4 overall and 8-2 in the Freedom Conference and also clinches a Freedom Conference playoff berth for the fifth time in the last six years. DSU is currently tied for first place in the loss column with Manhattanville College and Wilkes University who were scheduled to play on Wednesday evening but had the game postponed till Thursday evening because of the poor weather.
The first half was back and forth the entire way featuring four ties and four lead changes. The Bulldogs led by six on two different occasions over the first five minutes before the Aggies chipped away and tied the game for the first time at 22 all. Neither team led by more than four points over the final 15 minutes and a jumper from Ryan Thomas with 52 ticks left created the fourth tie of the half as each team entered the locker rooms deadlocked at 30.
Both teams shot 14-for-35 (40.0%) from the field in the opening half as the Bulldogs enjoyed a 25-17 lead on the glass. Sophomore Eric Salem (Reading, PA/Exeter) was the game's high scorer with nine points off the bench for DeSales on 4-of-5 shooting.
The second half was all Bulldogs as they started the half with four quick points and never trailed the rest of the way. DVC got within one point twice and trailed by two points (40-38) at the 15:38 mark when a 9-2 run pushed the advantage to nine points. Stricker and fellow senior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) scored seven of the nine points in the spurt.
The lead swelled to 16 points, 64-48, when Zwetolitz took over on the offensive end scoring nine straight points to lead a 10-0 run over a two minute span that put the game away. DeSales recovered from a poor shooting first-half to convert 57.1 percent in the second stanza.
Stricker and Zwetolitz each finished with a team-high 18 points in the win. Stricker scored all 18 of points in the second half and also grabbed 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Zwetolitz shot 5-of-9 from the field for his career-high 18 tallies. Sophomore Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) and Ohlson each finished with eight points, and totaled 12 assists, five for Malatesta and seven for Ohlson.
Freshman Matt Beichey finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, while freshman Raheem Wiggins recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, February 16th when they host FDU-Florham in a Freedom Conference game beginning at 3:00 pm. The game will be the final regular season home game for DSU's three seniors. For those unable to attend you can follow the game's progress online via LIVE STATS locally on the radio on Fox 1470 am which can also be heard online at the following link – RADIO.
