Box Score BOX SCORE
Bloomsburg, Pa. (February 23, 2008) – The DeSales University men's basketball team reached the 20-win plateau for the fifth time in the last six years with a 75-67 win over NCAA Division II Bloomsburg University in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season with a 20-5 overall record, while the Huskies fall to 8-17 overall. DSU shot 57.7 percent from the field, 65.4 percent in the second half in the win, while out-rebounding BU, 30-24. DeSales canned 8-of-16 from outside the arc but just 7-of-14 from the free throw line. Bloomsburg shot 50.8 percent from the field but just 5-of-19 from three-point land.
DeSales took an early 13-6 lead when junior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and senior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) hit back-to-back three-pointers but an 11-3 run by the Huskies over the next seven minutes gave the hosts a 17-16 lead. Trailing by five points late in the half, DSU scored the last four points on lay-ups from sophomore Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) and junior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) to pull the Bulldogs within one at the break.
DSU continued to trail by one, 38-37, at the 16:36 mark when a 12-4 run over the next six and a half minutes gave the Bulldogs a seven-point advantage. Senior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) had four points and sophomore Rob Schubach (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh) hit a three-pointer during the spurt.
Bloomsburg chipped away at the lead over the next couple minutes and trailed by three, 67-64, at the 3:12 mark when the Bulldogs put the game away with a quick 7-0 run to take its first double digit lead of the game. Braswell hit a three to start the game-clinching run and Stricker added two lay-ups to make the score 74-64 with 54 ticks left before the final margin was posted.
Braswell finished with a team-high 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, while Stricker added 16 points, 12 in the second half. Lapinski finished with 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Ohlson totaled five points and seven assists in the win. Schubach came off the bench to score nine points.
Nick Jones led the Huskies with 18 points, Niko Traykov tallied 17 points and Jeremiah Long had 10 points to round out the double figure scorers for Bloomsburg.
In Freedom Conference action on Saturday, Wilkes defeated FDU-Florham and Manhattanville scored a come-from-behind win over Arcadia giving DeSales the #1 seed in the Freedom Conference playoffs. The Bulldogs will host the #4 seed, Wilkes University, in the opening round of the playoffs at 8:00 pm on Wednesday in Billera Hall.
