Box Score BOX SCORE
Center Valley, Pa. (February 9, 2008) – The DeSales University men's basketball team saw its 23-game home winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon falling to Manhattanville College, 83-67, in a Freedom Conference game that sees both teams tied atop the Freedom Conference standings with two weeks left on the schedule.
The Bulldogs also suffer their first losing streak of the season dropping their second straight game to fall to 17-4 overall and 7-2 in the Freedom, while the Valiants improve to 15-6 overall and 7-2 in the Freedom. MC entered the game allowing 76.2 points per game which ranked fifth in the Freedom Conference in scoring defense but came up with a plan on Saturday to hold DeSales to just 67 points and 44.1 percent shooting in the upset win.
DSU had control of this game in the first half until the final five minutes when an 11-3 run to end the half put the Valiants up two, 36-34, at the break. After a lay-up from sophomore Eric Salem (Reading, PA/Exeter) put DeSales up 31-25 at the 5:11 mark, senior Brian Fink connected on a three-pointer and scored eight of the final 13 points in the half including a put-back off an offensive rebound with three seconds left to stake MC to the two-point halftime lead.
The Bulldogs went cold over the final five minutes of the half connecting on just 1-for-8 attempts, while committing two turnovers. Meanwhile, Manhattanville went 4-for-7 from the field over the same span, including three treys to cut the six-point deficit into a two-point halftime lead. Fink led all scorers with 14 points at the break.
MC stayed hot to start the second half opening up a six-point advantage at the 19:05 mark on another three-pointer from Fink, but senior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) caught fire and scored the next eight points, including two three-pointers to push DeSales back ahead, 43-41, at the 16:24 mark.
After the two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes and a lay-up from sophomore Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) tied the score at 45, the Valiants took control with an 11-0 run over a four-minute span that was a product of the Bulldogs not taking care of the ball as DSU turned it over five times during that stretch and attempted just three shots. Junior Wesley Wicks led the charge for MC with six points during the spurt.
DSU chipped away over the next four minutes and after sophomore Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) converted a three-point play the deficit had been cut to seven points at the 6:55 mark, but a quick 14-2 run over the next three minutes pushed the Valiant up to 19 points and the Bulldogs were left with its first home less since the first game of the 2006-07 season. During the clinching spurt for Manhattanville, sophomore Angelo Laroche led the way with eight of the 14 points.
Manhattanville finished the game shooting 56.1 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Bulldogs, 31-28, for the game. DSU shot just 25.9 percent (7-for-27) from three-point land and committed 17 turnovers as compared to dishing out just 10 assists.
Ohlson finished the game with a career-high 21 points but shot just 8-of-21 from the field and 3-of-13 from three-point land. Junior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) totaled 15 points off the bench on 6-of-8 shooting, Braswell also reached double digits with 13 points, and Malatesta added nine tallies. Senior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) and junior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) combined to score just seven points and attempt eight shots in the game.
Fink and Wicks led the Valiants with 23 points each as Fink shot 8-for-11 (4-for-6 from outside the arc) and Wicks canned 8-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. Laroche added 15 points and grabbed six rebounds and senior Cody Moffett totaled 11 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Fellow senior Donte Chisolm also played well finishing with six points, seven assists and eight steals in the win.
The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday, February 13th when they travel to Delaware Valley College for a Freedom Conference game beginning at 8:00 pm. For those unable to attend you can follow the games progress online via LIVE stats at the following link - HERE.
